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WAR IN THE 
UNDERSEAS 




Fr. 



The Last of a Pirate 

G. H. Davis 



WAR IN THE 
UNDERSEAS 



BY 

HAROLD F. B. WHEELER 

F.R.HistS. 

author of 

' daring deeds of merchant seamen ' 

'stirring deeds of Britain's sea-dogs' etc. 

founder of 'history* 




NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Us 



10 



ftsy- 



Printed in Great Britain 
by Twrnbull & S fears, Edinburgh 



DEDICATED 
TO 

GEOFFREY CHARLES TASKAR 
KEYES 

IN THE SINCERE HOPE THAT IF OPPORTUNITY BE 
HIS HE MAY EMULATE THE DARING OF HIS FATHER, 
WHOSE ACHIEVEMENT AT ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND 
WILL BE RELATED BY OLD BOYS TO THEIR JUNIORS 
UNTIL THE OCEAN HIGHWAY IS AS DRY AS A 
DUSTY ROAD 



Foreword 

SEA-POWER strangled Germany and saved 
the world. Even when the Kaiser's 
legions were riding roughshod over the 
greater part of Europe its grip was slowly 
throttling them. Despite the murderous mis- 
sion of mine and U-boat, it kept the armies of 
the Allies supplied with men and munitions, 
and scoured the world for both. When the 
British Fleet took up its war stations in the 
summer of 19 14 it became the Heart of Things 
for civilization. It continued to be so when the 
major portion of the swaggering High Sea Fleet 
came out to meet Beatty under the white flag 
in the chilly days of November 1918. It remains 
so to-day. 

The officers and men of the Royal Navy 
whose march is the Underseas played a peril- 
ous and noble part in the Great Conflict. 
British submarines poked their inquisitive 
noses into the wet triangle of Heligoland Bight 
three hours after hostilities were declared ; 
they watched while the Men of Mons crossed 

7 



War in the Under seas 

the Channel to stay the hand of the invader ; 
they pierced the Dardanelles when mightier 
units remained impotent ; they threaded their 
way through the icy waters of the Baltic 
despite the vigilance of a tireless enemy ; 
they fought U-boats, a feat deemed to be 
impossible ; they dodged mines, land bat- 
teries, and surface craft, and depleted the 
High Sea Fleet of many valuable fighting 
forces. In addition, they had to contend with 
their own peculiar troubles — shoals, collisions, 
breakdowns, and a hundred and one ills which 
a landsman never suspects. Some set out on 
their duties and failed to come back. They lie 
many fathoms deep. Their commanders have 
made their last report. Sea-power has its price. 
I am under special obligation to several 
officers of British submarines for assistance 
willingly rendered, despite the arduous nature 
of their duties. Their generous enthusiasm 
exhibits that " real love for the Grand Old 
Service it is an honour and pleasure to serve 
in," as Admiral Beatty wrote to me the other 

day. 

HAROLD F. B. WHEELER 

8 



Contents 



I. Clearing the Decks .... 13 

II. Life as a Latter-day Pirate . . 52 

III. Germany's Submersible Fleet . . 69 

IV. Pygmies among Giants .... 84 
V. Tragedy in the Middle Seas . . 105 

VI. HORTON, E9, AND OTHERS . . . 120 

VII. Submarine v. Submarine .... 137 

VIII. A Chapter of Accidents . . . 148 

IX. Sea-hawk and Sword-fish . . .165 

X. U-BOATS THAT NEVER RETURNED . . I92 

XI. Depth Charges in Action . . . 209 

XII. Singeing the Sultan's Beard . . 222 

XIII. On Certain Happenings in the Baltic . 241 

XIV. Blockading the Blockade . . . 272 
XV. Bottling up Zeebrugge and Ostend . 297 

XVI. The Great Collapse .... 310 

9 



Illustrations 



The Last of a Pirate .... Frontispiece 

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare ... 48 

'The Interior of a German Submarine . . 72 

The Second Exploit of E 9 . . . . 126 

" Kamerad ! Kamerad ! " . . . . 154 

A Seaplane of the R.N.A.S 188 

The Destroyer's Short Way with the U-Boat 218 

C 3 at Zeebrugge Mole 298 

'Entry of the Surrendered U-Boats into 

Harwich 310 



11 



CHAPTER I 

Clearing the Decks 

" Society must not remain passive in face of the deliberate 
provocation of a blind and outrageous tyrant. The common 
interests of mankind must direct the impulses of political bodies : 
European society has no other essential purpose." — Schiller. 

SURPRISE is the soul of war. The sub- 
marine illustrates this elemental prin- 
ciple, and its astounding development is 
the most amazing fact of the World Struggle. 
Given favourable circumstances it can attack 
when least expected, pounce on its prey at 
such time as may be most convenient to itself, 
and return to its lair without so much as being 
sighted. What has become a vital means to 
the most important military ends was once 
described by the British Admiralty as " the 
weapon of the weaker Power." To a large 
extent, of course, it is par excellence the type 
of vessel necessary to bidders for Sea Supremacy 
who would wrest maritime predominance from 
a stronger Power. On the other hand, it has 
rendered yeoman service to the British Navy, 

13 



War in the Under seas 

as many of the following pages will show. 
Germany, a nation of copyists but also of 
improvers, diverted the submersible from the 
path of virtue which previous to the out- 
break of hostilities it was expected to pursue. 
It is safe to say that few people in Great 
Britain entertained the suspicion that under- 
water craft would be used by any belligerent 
for the purpose of piracy. 

Up to August 1914 the submarine was 
intimately associated in the public mind with 
death and disaster — death for the crew and 
disaster for the vessel. It is so easy to forget 
that Science claims martyrs and Progress 
exacts sacrifice. These are two of the certain- 
ties of an uncertain world. The early stages of 
aviation also were notable for the wreck of 
hopes, machines, and men. To-day aircraft 
share with submarines and tanks the honour 
of having altered the aspect of war. The 
motor-car, once the laughing-stock of every- 
body other than the enthusiast, and now 
grown into a Juggernaut mounting powerful 
guns, is the foster-father of the three, for the 
perfection of the internal combustion engine 

14 



Clearing the Decks 

alone made the submarine and the aeroplane 
practicable. 

For good or for ill, the underwater boat has 
passed from the experimental to the practical. 
In the hands of the Germans it became a 
particularly sinister and formidable weapon. 
The truth is not in us if we attempt to disguise 
the fact. When there was not so much as a 
cloud the size of a man's hand on the European 
sky, and the Betrayer was pursuing the path 
of peaceful penetration all undisturbed and 
almost unsuspected, the submarine was re- 
garded by many eminent authorities as a 
somewhat precocious weakling in the naval 
nursery. They refused to believe that it would 
grow up. Even Mr H. G. Wells, who has 
loosed so many lucky shafts, unhesitatingly 
damned it in his Anticipations. He saw few 
possibilities in the craft, and virtually limited 
its use to narrow waterways and harbours. 

There were others, however, who thought 
otherwise, and the controversy between the 
rival schools of thought was brought to a head 
by a fierce battle fought in Printing House 
Square. Sir Percy Scott, who had previously 

i5 



War in the Under seas 

held more than a watching brief for the heavy 
fathers of the Fleet, bluntly told the nation 
through the columns of the Times that the 
day of the Dreadnought and the Super-Dread- 
nought was over. With a scratch of the pen 
he relegated battleships to the scrap-heap — 
until other experts brought their guns to bear 
on the subject. Almost on the conclusion of 
this war of words the war of actuality began. 
I do not think I am wrong in saying that 
the former ended in an inconclusive peace. 
Practice has proved the efficiency of both 
surface and underwater craft, but particularly 
of vessels that do not submerge. 

Admiral Sir Percy Scott's prophecy remains 
unfulfilled. The big-gun ship has asserted 
itself in no uncertain language. It is interest- 
ing to note, however, that the ruling of one 
who took part in the discussion, and whose 
personal experience in the early stages of the 
evolution of a practical submarine entitled 
him to special consideration, has been entirely 
negatived. Rear- Admiral R. H. S. Bacon, 1 

1 Now Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald H. S. Bacon, K.C.B., 
K.G.V.O., D.S.O. 

16 



Clearing the Decks 

the principal designer of the first British type, 
asserted that " the idea of attack of commerce 
by submarines is barbarous and, on account 
of the danger of involving neutrals, impolitic." 
It is obvious from this that the late com- 
mander of the Dover Patrol never contem- 
plated any departure from the acknowledged 
principles of civilized warfare. The unexpected 
happened, as it is particularly liable to do in 
war. One of the main purposes of the enemy's 
submarines in the World War was piracy, un- 
restrained, unrestricted, and unashamed. It 
failed to justify Germany's hope. 

Probably Lord Fisher was the first sea- 
man holding high position to actually warn 
the British Government of the likelihood of 
Germany's illegitimate use of the submarine. 
Early in 19 14 he handed to Mr Asquith and the 
First Lord of the Admiralty a memorandum 
pointing out, among other things, that the 
enemy would use underwater boats against 
our commerce. 1 His prescience was forestalled 
thirteen years before by Commander Sir Trevor 

1 Reply of Mr Bonar Law to Mr G. Lambert and Com- 
mander Bellairs in the House of Commons, 5th March, 191 8. 

B 17 



War in the Under seas 

Dawson, who had prophesied that the enemy 
would attack our merchant fleet in much the 
same way as the Boers were then attacking 
the army in the Transvaal. " Submarine 
boats," he told a meeting of engineers, " have 
sufficient speed and radius of action to place 
themselves in the trade routes before the dark- 
ness gives place to day, and they would be 
capable of doing almost incalculable destruc- 
tion against unsuspecting and defenceless 
victims." 

Originally Germany was by no means 
enamoured of the new craft. Her first two 
submarines did not appear until 1905-6 ; 
Great Britain's initial venture was launched 
at Barrow-in-Furness in 1901. The latter, the 
first of a batch of five, was ordered on 
the advice of Lord Goschen. Even then the 
official attitude was sceptical, not altogether 
without reason. Mr H. O. Arnold-Forster, 
speaking in the House of Commons on the 
18th March, 1901, after admitting that " there 
is no disguising the fact that if you can add 
speed to the other qualities of the submarine 
boat, it might in certain circumstances become 

18 



Clearing the Decks 

a very formidable vessel," adopted what one 
might call a misery-loves-company attitude. 
" We are comforted," he averred, " by the 
judgment of the United States and Germany, 
which is hostile to these inventions, which I 
confess I desire shall never prosper." 

Dr Flamm, Professor of Ship Construction 
at the Technical High School at Charlotten- 
burg, who should and probably does know 
better, has aided and abetted certain other 
publicists in foisting on the public of the 
Fatherland the presumption that the sub- 
marine is a German invention. This is not the 
place for a full history of the underwater craft 
from its early to its latest stages, but perhaps 
it is permissible to give a few particulars 
regarding the toilsome growth of this most 
formidable type of vessel. 

The first underwater craft of which there is 
anything approaching authentic record was the 
invention of Cornelius Drebbel, a Dutchman 
who forsook his own country for England. 
According to one C. van der Woude, writing 
in 1645, Drebbel rowed in his submerged boat 
from Westminster to Greenwich. Legend or 

19 



War in the Under seas 

truth has it that this " Famous Mechanician 
and Chymist" managed to keep the air more 
or less sweet in his craft by means of a secret 
" Chymicall liquor," and that the structure 
was covered with skin of some kind to make 
it watertight. Drebbel, who also professed to 
have discovered the secret of perpetual motion, 
is stated to have hit upon the idea of his 
invention by the simple process of keeping 
his eyes open. He noticed some fishermen 
towing behind their smacks a number of 
baskets heavily laden with their staple com- 
modity. When the ropes were not taut the 
vessels naturally rose a little in the water. 
He came to the conclusion that a boat could 
be weighted in much the same way to remain 
entirely below the surface, and propelled by 
means similar to a rowing-boat. It is even 
said that King James travelled at a depth 
of from twelve to fifteen feet in one of the 
two vessels constructed by Drebbel, whose 
invention is referred to in Ben Jonson's Staple 
of News. 

The submarine may be said to have remained 
in this essentially elementary stage until 1775, 

20 



Clearing the Decks 
when David Bushnell, an American, launched 
a little one-man submarine after five years 
of planning and preparation. The shape of 
the vessel resembled a walnut held upright, 
the torpedo being carried outside near the 
top. At the bottom was an aperture fitted 
with a valve for admitting water, while a 
couple of pumps were provided for ejecting it. 
About 200 lb. of lead served as ballast, which 
could be lowered by ropes for the purpose of 
giving immediate increase of buoyancy should 
emergency require it. " When the skilful ope- 
rator had obtained an equilibrium," Bushnell 
writes, " he could row upward and down- 
ward, or continue at any particular depth, 
with an oar placed near the top of the vessel, 
formed upon the principle of the screw, the axis 
of the oar entering the vessel ; by turning the 
oar one way he raised the vessel, by turning 
it the other way he depressed it." A similar 
apparatus, worked by hand or foot, whichever 
was the more convenient, propelled the sub- 
marine forward or backward. The rudder 
eould also be utilized as a paddle. 

Bushnell provided his little wooden craft 
21 



War in the Under seas 

with what he called a crown and we should 
designate a conning - tower. In this there 
were several glass windows. Neither artificial 
.light nor means of freshening the air was 
carried, though the submarine could remain 
submerged for thirty minutes before the con- 
dition of the atmosphere made it necessary to 
ascend sufficiently near the surface to enable 
the two ventilator pipes to be brought into 
action. The water-gauge and compass were 
rendered discernible by means of phosphorus. 

The torpedo — Bushnell termed it a magazine 
— was an oak box containing 150 lb. of gun- 
powder and a clockwork apparatus which was 
set in operation immediately the affair was 
unshipped. It was attached to a wooden 
screw carried in a tube in the brim of the 
1 crown.' Having arrived beneath an enemy 
vessel, the screw was fixed in the victim's 
hull from within the submarine, and the 
' U-boat ' made off. At the time required the 
mechanism fired what to all intents and 
purposes was a gun-lock, and the torpedo 
blew up. 

The wooden screw was the least successful 
22 



Clearing the Decks 

of the various appliances. An attempt was 
made in 1776 to annihilate H.M.S. Eagle, 
then lying off Governor's Island, New York. 
The operator apparently tried to drive his 
screw into iron, and quite naturally failed. 
Writing to Thomas Jefferson on the subject, 
Bushnell suggests that had the operator shifted 
the submarine a few inches he could have 
carried out his operation, even though the 
bottom was covered with copper. Two other 
unsuccessful trials were made in the Hudson 
River. Owing to ill-health and lack of means, 
the inventor then abandoned his submarine, 
though in the following year he attempted to 
' discharge ' one of his magazines from a whale- 
boat, the object of attack being H.M.S. Cerberus. 
It failed to reach the British frigate, and blew 
up a prize schooner anchored astern of her. 
Washington was fully alive to the possibilities 
of Bushnell's invention, but was evidently 
of opinion that it was too crude to warrant 
his serious attention. Writing to Jefferson, 
he says : "I thought, and still think, that it 
was an effort of genius, but that too many 
things were necessary to be combined to expect 

23 



War in the Underseas 

much from the issue against an enemy who 
are always upon guard." Incidentally this 
was a remarkable testimonial to the men on 
look-out duty on the British vessels. Keen 
sight is still a recognized weapon against 
submarine attack. 

In 1797 Robert Fulton, also an American, 
brought his fertile brain to bear on the sub- 
marine, possibly on hearing or reading of 
David Bushnell's boat. One would have an- 
ticipated that the era of the Revolutionary and 
Napoleonic wars would be propitious for the 
introduction of new plans and methods calcu- 
lated to bring a seemingly never-ending state of 
hostilities to an end. Novel propositions were 
certainly brought forward ; few were utilized. 
Fulton, an artist by profession, simply bubbled 
over with ideas connected with maritime 
operations. Moreover, he had extraordinary 
tenacity and enthusiasm. Set-backs seemed 
to give him added momentum. He tried to 
do business with Napoleon in France, with 
Pitt in England, with Schimmelpenninck on 
behalf of Holland, not always without success, 
before returning to the United States and 

24 



Clearing the Decks 
running the steamer Clermont at five miles 
an hour on the Hudson. 

At the end of 1797 the enterprising American 
proposed to the French Directory to construct 
a submarine, to be christened the Nautilus, 
or, as he frequently spelled it, the Nautulus. 
So great was his faith in the project for "A 
Machine which flatters me with much hope 
of being Able to Annihilate " the British Navy, 
that he was willing to be remunerated by 
results, viz., 4000 francs per gun for every ship 
of forty guns and upward that he destroyed, 
and half that amount per gun for smaller 
vessels. All captures were to become the 
property of " the Nautulus Company." A 
little chary of being caught red-handed by 
the enemy and dealt with as a pirate, he asked 
that he might be given a commission in the 
Service, which would ensure for him and his 
crew the treatment of belligerents. Pleville 
le Pelley, Minister of Marine, deeming that 
such warfare was " atrocious," and yet not 
altogether unkindly disposed toward it, refused 
the latter request, which would obviously give 
the submarine official sanction. The proposed 

25 



War in the Under seas 

payment by results he reduced by fifty per 
cent. All the arrangements were subsequently 
cancelled. 

Nothing further was done until July 1798, 
when Bruix was Minister of Marine. Fulton 
renewed his proposition, and certain inquiries 
by scientists of repute were made at the in- 
stigation of Bruix. The report was distinctly 
favourable, but again there was disagreement 
as to terms. Fulton, impatient of delay, built 
the Nautilus. This little vessel, twenty feet long 
and five feet beam, was launched at Rouen 
in July 1800. On the trial trip the inventor 
and two companions made two dives in the 
boat, the time of submersion varying from 
eight minutes to seventeen minutes. Pro- 
ceeding to Havre, Fulton made various im- 
provements in the Nautilus, including the 
introduction of a screw propeller worked by 
hand, and the addition of wings placed hori- 
zontally in the bows for the purpose of 
ascending or descending. While at Havre the 
submarine remained below over an hour at a 
depth of fifteen feet with her crew and a lighted 
candle. On another occasion the Nautilus 

26 



Clearing the Decks 

was submerged for six hours, air being sup- 
plied by means of a little tube projecting 
above the water. 

For sailing on the surface the boat was fitted 
with a single jury-mast carrying a mainsail 
jib, which could be unshipped when submarine 
navigation was required. By admitting water 
she sank to the required depth, and was then 
propelled by the method already referred to. 
A glass dome, a compass, a pump for expelling 
the water when necessary, and a gauge for 
testing depth, which Fulton called a batho- 
meter, constituted the ' works.' The torpedo 
was an apparatus made of copper filled with 
gunpowder, " arranged in such a manner that 
if it strikes a vessel or the vessel runs against 
it, the explosion will take place and the bottom 
of the vessel be blown in or so shattered as 
to ensure her destruction." x The weapon 
was to be fixed to the bottom of the victim 
by means of a barbed point on the chain used 
for towing it. 

Fulton approached Napoleon, who autho- 
rized Forfait, the latest Minister of Marine, 

1 Fulton's report, gth September, 1801. 
27 



War in the Under seas 

to advance the sum of 10,000 francs for the 
purpose of perfecting the Nautilus. He also 
granted Fulton an interview. When, in the 
autumn of 1801, he expressed a wish to see 
the submarine, the vessel had been broken 
up. Here the matter ended, and the ingenious 
American turned his thoughts in the direction 
of steam navigation. The Nautilus was his 
one and only experiment in underwater craft. 1 
The first ship to be actually sunk during 
hostilities by submarine was the Federal 
13-gun frigate Housatonic, of 1264 tons. She 
went down off Charleston on the 17th February, 
1864, during the American Civil War, as the 
result of being attacked by a spar-torpedo 
carried by the Confederate submarine Hunley, 
so named after her designer, Captain Horace L. 
Hunley. Unfortunately the underwater boat 
was also a victim, and she carried with her 
her fourth crew to meet with death as a conse- 

1 Readers who wish for further details of Fulton will find 
them in Robert Fulton, Engineer and Artist, his Life and Works, 
by H. W. Dickinson, A.M.I.Mech.E. (London, 1913), and 
other documentary evidence in Projets et Tentatives de de- 
barquetnent aux lies Britanniques, by Edouard Desbridre 
(Paris, 1902), vol. ii, pp. 255-259, 279-280. 

28 



Clearing the Decks 

quence of misadventure. On the first occasion 
the boat was swamped and eight men were 
drowned, on the second a similar disaster over- 
took her, with the loss of six of her crew, 
on the third she descended and failed to 
come up. Small wonder that the Hunley came 
to be known as ' the Peripatetic Coffin. ' 

The shape of the Hunley was cylindrical. 
For'ard and aft were water ballast tanks 
operated by valves, and additional stability 
was given by a sort of false keel consisting of 
pieces of cast iron bolted inside so as to be 
easily detachable should it be necessary to 
reach the surface quickly. On each side of 
the propeller, worked by the hand-power of 
eight men, were two iron blades which could 
be moved so as to change the depth of the 
vessel. The pilot steered from a position near 
the fore hatchway. 

The torpedo, a copper cylinder containing 
explosive and percussion and primer mechanism, 
was fired by triggers. It was carried on a 
boom, twenty-two feet long, attached to the 
bow. The speed was seldom more than four 
miles an hour on a calm day. As there was 

29 



War in the Underseas 

no means of replenishing the air other than by 
coming to the surface and lifting one of the 
hatchways, it was obviously a fair-weather 
ship. 

On the afternoon of the 17th February, 1864, 
the Hunley set out on her final trip. While 
attacking the submarine was only partly sub- 
merged, and one of the hatches was uncovered ; 
why will never be known. She made straight 
toward the Housatonic, with the evident inten- 
tion of striking the vessel near the magazines 
with her torpedo. There was an explosion, 
the ship heeled to port, and went down by the 
stern. When divers examined the extent of 
her injuries the plucky little Hunley was found 
with her nose buried in the gaping wound in 
her victim's hull. Her crew were dead, but 
apparently the officer was saved. 

Other submarines or partly submersible boats 
were used by the defenders of the Southern 
cause. They were usually termed 'Davids' 
because they were built to sink the Goliaths 
of the Federal Navy. The New Ironsides, the 
Minnesota, and the Memphis were all damaged 
as a result of their operations. 

30 



Clearing the Decks 

The only weapon of the submerged submarine 
is the torpedo. The World War brought no sur- 
prise in this direction. For surface work the 
calibre of the guns mounted on the disappear- 
ing platforms has increased very considerably. 
In 19 14 a 14-pdr. was considered ample arma- 
ment. With added displacement, gun-power 
has grown enormously. Some German under- 
water craft in 1918 carried 5.9-in. guns — that 
is to say, weapons larger than those used by 
many destroyers. 

During the past decade torpedoes and sub- 
marines have made almost parallel progress. 
Of the various types of the former, the White- 
head is first favourite in the Navies of Great 
Britain, Japan, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, 
while France uses both the Whitehead and the 
Schneider, and Germany was exclusively devoted 
to the Schwartzkopf (Blackhead) . The extreme 
effective range of each may be taken as from 
10,000 to 12,000 yards. The essential differ- 
ence between a torpedo and the usual run of 
naval ammunition for guns is that the torpedo 
retains its propellant, while the shell does not. 
The torpedo is really an explosive submarine 

31 



War in the Under seas 

mine forced through the water at a rate 
varying from 28 knots to 42 knots by twin- 
screws worked by compressed air engines. Any 
deviation from the course is automatically 
corrected by a gyroscope. Some torpedoes 
are now fitted with an apparatus which causes 
the torpedo to go in circles should it miss its 
mark and meet with the wash of passing ships. 
There is the added possibility, therefore, that 
the weapon may strike a vessel at which it 
was not aimed when a squadron is proceeding 
in line ahead. 

To a certain extent the submarine has en- 
abled the torpedo to come into its own. It is 
not at all an easy taslc to hit a rapidly moving 
ship from a platform also ploughing the water 
at a great rate. Among other things the speed 
and distance of the opponent have to be taken 
into consideration, and the missile aimed 
ahead of the enemy so that it and the target 
shall arrive at a given point at the same 
moment. The late Mr Robert Whitehead's 
invention, an improvement on that of Com- 
mandant Lupuis, of the Austrian Navy, who 
had sold his patent to the former, was tested 

32 



Clearing the Decks 

by the British Admiralty at Sheerness in 1871. 
Although extremely crude when compared with 
its successor of to-day, the sum of £15,000 
was paid for the English rights. It was first 
put to a practical test in the Russo-Turkish 
War of 1877, when Lieutenant Rozhdestvensky, 
who afterward suffered defeat at the hands of 
the Japanese in May 1905, sank a Turkish 
warship by its means. 

Viscount Jellicoe has told us that the arrival 
of the submarine led to certain alterations in 
strategy. I quote from an interview which 
the former First Sea Lord granted to a repre- 
sentative of the Associated Press in the spring 
of 1917. Sir John, as he then was, said : 
" The most striking feature of the change in 
our historic naval policy resulting from the 
illegal use of submarines, and from the fact 
that the enemy surface ships have been driven 
from the sea, is that we have been compelled 
to abandon a definite offensive policy for one 
which may be called an offensive defensive, 
since our only active enemy is the submarine 
engaged in piracy and murder." Mr Winston 
Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty in 
c 33 



War in the Under seas 

August 19 14, put the matter a little more 
bluntly. " But for the submarine and the 
mine," he wrote, " the British Navy would, at 
the outset of the war, have been able to force 
the fighting to an issue on their old battle- 
ground — outside the enemy's ports." 

This did not mean that every other type of 
ship had been rendered obsolete or even obso- 
lescent by the coming of the vessel that can 
float on or under the waves. Admiral von 
Capelle, Secretary of State for the German 
Imperial Navy, told the Main Committee of 
the Reichstag that the submarine was an 
" important and effective weapon," but added 
that " big battleships are not wholly indis- 
pensable. Their construction depends on the 
procedure of other nations." x For instance, 
the submarine has emphasized the import- 
ance of the torpedo-boat destroyer, which 
some seamen thought it would supersede. The 
T.B.D. has more than maintained its own. 
Not only is it useful for acting independently, 
righting its own breed, but as the safeguard 
of the battleships and battle-cruisers at sea, 

1 Speech of 27th April, 1917. 

34 



Clearing the Decks 

and also as the keenest weapon against sub- 
marines, the naval maid-of-all-work has proved 
extraordinarily efficient. 1 

In the general operations of naval warfare 
it cannot be said that the enemy U-boats 
were particularly successful. In the five 
battles that were fought the work of German 
submarines was negligible so far as actual fight- 
ing was concerned. In two of them, namely 
Coronel and the Falklands, they were un- 
represented on account of the actions taking 
place many thousands of miles from European 
waters. This limitation of range of action is 
a difficulty that time and experiment were 
beginning to solve when hostilities came to an 
abrupt conclusion. 

The battles of Heligoland Bight and Dogger 
Bank are profoundly interesting to the student 
of War in the Underseas. Sir David Beatty, 
who commanded the Battle Cruiser Squadron 
in the first big naval engagement in which 
submarines were used, while admitting that 
he did not lose sight of " the risk " from them, 
says in his dispatch that " our high speed . . . 

1 In this connexion see particularly Chapter X. 

35 



War in the Under seas 

made submarine attack difficult, and the 
smoothness of the sea made their detection 
comparatively easy." These two antidotes will 
be noted by the reader. The same distinguished 
officer, perched on the forebridge of the Lion 
in his shirt-sleeves while pursuing the German 
Fleet near the Dogger Bank, personally ob- 
served the wash of a periscope on his starboard 
bow. By turning immediately to port he 
entirely upset the calculations of the enemy 
commander, who was not afforded a further 
opportunity to torpedo the flagship. A like 
manoeuvre defeated a similar projected attack 
on the Queen Mary in the Bight. The helm 
is therefore a third instrument of defence. 
Apparently the service rendered by enemy 
U-boats at these two battles was worthless. 
If they fired at all they missed. On the other 
hand, any attempt to sink them likewise 
failed. 

In the dispatches on the Battle of Jutland, 
which a well-known Admiral tells me were 
severely edited before publication, there are 
several references to enemy submarines, none 
to our own. The first attempted attack took 

36 



Clearing the Decks 

place about half an hour after Sir David Beatty 
had opened fire, and immediately following 
the entry of the 5th Battle Squadron into the 
fight. The destroyer Landrail sighted a peri- 
scope on her port quarter. With the Lydiard 
she formed a smoke screen which " undoubtedly 
preserved the battle-cruisers from closer sub- 
marine attack." The light cruiser Nottingham 
also reported a submarine to starboard. We 
are also informed that " Fearless and the 
1st Flotilla were very usefully employed as 
a submarine screen during the earlier part 
of May 31." The Marlborough, flagship of 
Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney's First Battle 
Squadron, after having been torpedoed — 
whether by submarine or other craft is not 
mentioned — drove off a U-boat attack while 
proceeding to harbour for repairs. " The 
British Fleet," adds Sir John Jellicoe, " re- 
mained in the proximity of the battlefield 
and near the line of approach to German ports 
until 11 a.m. on June 1, in spite of the dis- 
advantages of long distances from fleet bases 
and the danger incurred in waters adjacent 
to enemy coasts from submarines and torpedo 

37 



War in the Underseas 

craft." In the British list of enemy vessels 
put out of action, one submarine figures as 
sunk. 

Admiral Beatty justly remarks that the 
German losses were " eloquent testimony to 
the very high standard of gunnery and tor- 
pedo efficiency of His Majesty's ships." Of the 
twenty-one vessels lost or severely damaged, 
it would appear as though nine were accounted 
for by torpedoes, although this does not 
necessarily mean that they had not been 
engaged by gunfire as well. At Dogger Bank, 
it may be recollected, a torpedo finally settled 
the Blilcher, which had already been rendered 
hors de combat by shell fired from more old- 
fashioned weapons. 

The German High Sea Fleet adopted a pro- 
longed attitude of caution after Jutland, but 
the All-Highest thought it well to issue an 
Imperial Order calculated to inspire the officers 
and men of the submarine flotillas. " The 
impending decisive battle " mentioned in the 
following message, which is dated Main Head- 
quarters, ist February, 1917, evidently refers 
to the ' unlimited ' phase of U-boat warfare 

38 



Clearing the Decks 

and not to a general action, as one might 
imagine at first glance. This highly interesting 
document runs : 

To my Navy 

In the impending decisive battle the task falls on my 
Navy of turning the English war method of starvation, 
with which our most hated and most obstinate enemy 
intends to overthrow the German people, against him 
and his Allies by combating their sea traffic with all 
the means in our power. 

In this work the submarine will stand in the first 
rank. I expect that this weapon, technically developed 
with wise foresight at our admirable yards, in co-opera- 
tion with all our other naval fighting weapons, and 
supported by the spirit which during the whole course 
of the war has enabled us to perform brilliant deeds, 
will break our enemy's war designs. 

Wilhelm 

The defensive policy of the Imperial Navy 
was summed up by a writer in the Deutsche 
Tageszeitung seven months after the publica- 
tion of the above. " Above all else," he wrote, 
" the German High Sea Fleet has rendered 
possible the conduct of the submarine war. 
Without it the enemy would have threatened 
our submarine bases and restricted our sub- 
marine warfare, or made it impossible." It 

39 



War in the Underseas 

was not a valorous role to play, but there was 
wisdom in it. 

The submarine campaign passed through 
several phases. In its earliest stages it was 
mainly directed by Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, 
the predominant personality associated with the 
growth of the Imperial Navy. In December 
19 14 this Bluebeard of the Seas asserted that 
as England wished to starve Germany, " we 
might play the same game and encircle England, 
torpedoing every British ship, every ship 
belonging to the Allies that approached any 
British or Scottish port, and thereby cut off 
the greater part of England's food supply." 
The ' game ' was started on the 18th February, 
1915, and enthusiastically applauded through- 
out the German Empire. All the waters sur- 
rounding the United Kingdom, and " all English 
seas," were declared to be a war area. Every 
vessel of the British Mercantile Marine was to 
be destroyed, " and it will not always be 
possible to avoid danger to the crews and 
passengers thereon." x Peaceful shipping was 
warned that there was a possibility of neutrals 

1 Proclamation of 5th February, 1915. 
40 



Clearing the Decks 

being " confused with ships serving warlike 
purposes " if they ventured within the danger 
zone. Great Britain had declared the North 
Sea a military area in November 1914, and 
every care was taken to respect the rights 
of neutral shipping. The enemy, on the con- 
trary, speedily showed utter disregard of inter- 
national law. The submarine programme was 
started before the day advertised for the opening 
performance. 

The sinking of the Lusitania on the 7th May, 
1915, with the loss of 1225 lives, showed in 
no uncertain way that the Germans intended 
nothing less than an orgy of cold-blooded 
devilry. In the following month the always 
strident German Navy League stated that 
the fleet which it had done so much to bring 
into being " was not in a position to break 
the endless chain of transports carrying muni- 
tions in such a manner as blockade regulations 
had hitherto required." To search ships was 
" in most cases impossible." In the same 
manifesto the sinking of the giant Cunarder 
was ' explained ' by arguing that as submarines 
had no means to compel vessels to stop, and 

4i 



War in the Under seas 

there was ammunition on board, sinking with- 
out warning was justified. " Such must con- 
tinue to be the case, and the Army has a just 
claim to this service of the Fleet." 

As a protest against armed traders, the 
campaign was intensified on the ist March, 
19 16. These ships were " not entitled to be 
regarded as peaceful merchantmen." The plain 
English of the move was that Germany wanted 
some kind of excuse for ordering her submarines 
to sink vessels at sight. According to her, none 
other than naval ships had the least excuse 
to assume so much as the defensive. In Presi- 
dent Wilson's so-called Sussex note of the 
18th April, 1916, attention is called to the 
" relentless and indiscriminate warfare against 
vessels of commerce by the use of submarines 
without regard to what the Government of 
the United States must consider the sacred 
and indisputable rules of international law 
and the universally recognized dictates of 
humanity." 

The third phase was that of " unlimited 
submarine war," announced on the last day 
of January 1917. " Within the barred zones 

42 



Clearing the Decks 

around Great Britain, France, Italy, and in the 
Eastern Mediterranean, all sea traffic will hence- 
forth be oppressed by all means." Neutral 
ships in those areas would traverse the waters 
" at their own risk." To a large extent they 
had done so before. Notwithstanding repeated 
' regrets ' and pledges given by Germany to 
the United States, murder on the high seas 
was now to be an acknowledged weapon of 
German warfare. It culminated in a declara- 
tion of war on the part of the United States 
on the 6th April, 1917, by which time over 
230 Americans had lost their lives by the 
enemy's illegal measures. The date is worth 
remembering ; it will loom big in the history 
books of to-morrow. Zimmermann, Germany's 
Minister for Foreign Affairs, had already ex- 
pressed the opinion that ruthless submarine 
warfare promised " to compel England to 
make peace in a few months." x In this ex- 
pectation, as in several others, he miscalculated. 
The Lord Chancellor declared that submarine 
warfare, as carried on by the enemy, was 

1 Note to the German Minister in Mexico, dated Berlin, 
19th January, 191 7. 

43 



War in the Underseas 

absolutely illegal by international law, and was 
mere piracy. 1 As to mines, which were also 
greatly favoured by the Huns and sown by 
their U-boats, it may be mentioned that such 
weapons laid to maintain a general commercial 
blockade are equally illegal, although per- 
fectly legitimate outside naval bases. This was 
a small matter to the Kaiser and his satellites, 
who were out to win at any and all costs. No 
British mines were placed in position until 
many weeks after the declaration of hostilities, 
although the enemy had scattered them in- 
discriminately in the trade routes either before 
or immediately following the outbreak of 
war. When we resorted to the use of 
mines they were anchored in all cases, and 
constructed to become harmless if they broke 
loose. 

The reply of England and of France to these 
measures was to stop supplies from entering 
Germany by means of a blockade controlled 
by cruiser cordon. " The law and custom of 
nations in regard to attacks on commerce," 
to quote the British Declaration to Neutral 

1 Speech in the House of Lords, ioth August, 1917. 
44 



Clearing the Decks 

Governments, 1 " have always presumed that 
the first duty of the captor of a merchant 
vessel is to bring it before a Prize Court, where 
it may be tried, where the regularity of the 
capture may be challenged, and where neutrals 
may recover their cargoes." With delicate 
consideration for the convenience of neutrals, 
which some folk held to be wisdom and others 
lunacy, the British Government declared their 
intention " to refrain altogether from the exer- 
cise of the right to confiscate ships or cargoes 
which belligerents have always claimed in 
respect of breaches of blockade. They re- 
strict their claim to the stopping of cargoes 
destined for or coming from the enemy's 
territory." 2 

Much ado was made about the stoppage of 
food for the civil population of the Central 
Empires. It was barbarous, inhuman, and 
so on. Yet the principle had been upheld 
by both Bismarck and Caprivi, and practised 
at the siege of Paris. As Sir Edward Grey 
delightfully put it, this method of bringing 

1 Dated ist March, 1915. 

* Sir Edward Grey to Mr Page, 15th March, 1915. 

45 



War in the Underseas 

pressure to bear on an enemy country " there- 
fore presumably is not repugnant to German 
morality." x 

A great deal has been said and written to 
show that the Prussian Government was not 
the German People, that instead of Representa- 
tion there was Misrepresentation. It is still 
extremely difficult to secure reliable informa- 
tion on any subject connected with intimate 
Germany, and the contemporary views of so- 
called neutrals are often more than suspect. 
A study of German newspapers at the time 
certainly led one to believe that opposition to 
the submarine campaign had been more or less 
negligible. A change of view only came when 
the people realized that ruthlessness did not 
pay, and it was the business of the British 
Navy to demonstrate this — as it did. Mean- 
time the German official accounts of sinkings 
were grossly exaggerated, and the nation had 
no means of discovering the loss of submarines 
other than when relatives serving in them failed 
to return to their families. There was no one 
to contradict the grossly exaggerated statement 

1 Sir Edward Grey to Mr Page, 15th March, 1915. 
46 



Clearing the Decks 

made by Dr Helfferich, Minister for the Interior, 
that in the first two months of unrestricted 
U-boat warfare over 1,600,000 tons of shipping 
had been sunk at the cost of the loss of a mere 
half-dozen submarines. 1 

Dr Michaelis, a more noisy sabre-rattler 
than his predecessor in the Chancellorship, 
asserted that " the submarine warfare is accom- 
plishing all, and more than all, that was ex- 
pected of it." 2 Like many other of his country- 
men, to him the crews of the Imperial Pirate 
Service were more of the nature of soldiers than 
of sailors. Certainly their callous behaviour 
suggested that they were strangers to the pro- 
verbial comradeship of the sea, and one with 
the glorious band that hacked a way through 
Belgium, drove their bayonets through babies, 
and crucified their prisoners. Loud cheers 
followed the remark that " We can look 
forward to the further labours of our brave 
submarine warriors with complete confidence," 
and also to a reference to greetings sent home 
to the Fatherland by " our troops on all fronts 

1 In the Reichstag Main Committee, 28th April, 1917. 

2 Speech in the Reichstag, July 1917. 

47 



War in the Under seas 

on land and sea, in the air and under the 
sea." 

As to the thoroughness with which com- 
manders of U-boats performed their task, there 
is no need to speak. There is plentiful evidence 
to prove that so elementary a duty as that of 
examining a ship's papers seldom interested 
them. They had no respect for law or life. 
Witness a case 1 that has a direct bearing 
on this matter. It arose in connexion with 
the salving of the s.s. Ambon, a neutral vessel 
bound for the Dutch East Indies, after having 
been torpedoed on the 21st February, 1916, 
when about seven miles off Start Point. A 
shell was fired from an enemy submarine. 
Immediately the engines of the steamship were 
stopped, a lifeboat was lowered, and the chief 
engineer sent off with the ship's papers and 
instructions. The latter included a copy of 
a telegram from the owners advising that the 
steamer was to call at a certain port on a specified 
day, in accordance with an agreement between 
the Dutch and German Governments. The 

1 Heard before Mr Justice Hill and Elder Brethren of 
the Trinity House, 2oth!March, 191 8. 

48 




Unrestricted Submarine Warfare 

A U-boat gliding, submerged, over her victim. 
Montague Black 



48 



Clearing the Decks 

German commander did not so much as look 
at the documents, and peremptorily told the 
crew to leave the Ambon. " My orders admit 
of no variation," he remarked. They were 
" to sink every ship in the blockade area." 
The steamer was then torpedoed, but did not 
founder, and was subsequently towed into 
Plymouth. 

No reliance whatever could be placed on 
Germany's word, as neutrals early discovered 
to their cost. Having provided a so-called 
' safe ' zone, the Dutch steamer Amsterdam 
was torpedoed within it. At Germany's own 
suggestion, an International Committee, com- 
posed of Dutch, Swedish, and German naval 
officers, was formed to investigate the circum- 
stances. Their finding was that the vessel 
had been sunk in the ' safe ' zone. 

There was a time when the French authorities 
seemed to be in favour of the submarine above 
all other types of naval ships. The result was 
that France lost her position in the race for 
second place in the world's fleets, though it 
is to her credit that in 1888 she launched 
the Gymnote, the first modern submarine to be 
d 49 



War in the Under seas 

commissioned. Nordenfeldt, of gun fame, had 
already achieved a certain amount of success 
with steam-driven underwater boats, but they 
had many disadvantages when compared with 
those of Mr John P. Holland, who hailed from 
the same country as Fulton. The first sub- 
marines built for the British Government 
were of the Holland type, of 120 tons displace- 
ment when submerged, and having a speed of 
five knots when travelling below. Germany's 
pioneer U-boat was built in 1890. In 1918 
she boasted giant diving cruisers of 5000 tons, 
with a radius of action of 8000 miles, and 
mounting 5.9-in. guns. 

As to the vexed question of the number of 
submarines possessed by Great Britain and 
Germany respectively at the beginning of the 
war, one can only say that authorities differ. 
According to an interview granted by Mr 
Winston Churchill to M. Hugues le Roux 
which appeared in Le Matin in the first week 
of February 19 15, we then had more under- 
water boats than the enemy, but Lord Jellicoe 
afterward asserted that in August 1914 " the 
German Navy possessed a great many more 

50 



Clearing the Decks 

oversea submarines than we did." * Unless 
there is a subtle distinction between the general 
term used by the then First Lord and the 
oversea type referred to by the former Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, it is im- 
possible to reconcile the two statements, for it 
is obvious that the leeway mentioned by the 
latter cannot have been made up in five months. 
According to the Berlin official naval annual 
Nautilus, published in June 1914, the total 
number of completed German submarines up 
to the previous month was twenty -eight. 
Commander Carlyon Bellairs, R.N., M.P., esti- 
mated them at "fifty built, building, and 
projected." Austria had six ready, four under 
construction at Pola, and five on the stocks in 
Germany. In the five years immediately pre- 
ceding the beginning of the struggle Germany 
certainly spent more on underwater craft than 
Great Britain, the figure for the former being 
£5,354.206, and for the latter £4,159,670. 

1 Speech delivered in Sheffield, 24th October, 1917. In 
reviewing the naval situation in the House of Commons on 
the 27th November, 1914, Mr Churchill had remarked that 
"our power in submarines is much greater than that of our 
enemies." 

51 



CHAPTER II 

Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

" The unrestricted U-boat war means a very strong naval 
offensive against the Entente." — Admiral von Capelle. 

WRITING in the early summer of 
1915, a neutral who visited the 
once busy ports of Danzig, Stettin, 
Hamburg, and Bremen remarked that " wher- 
ever one goes in these cities, wherever one 
takes one's meals, one hears the word Unter- 
seeboot. Amazing, and often untrue, stories are 
told of the number of submarines that are 
being constructed, the size and speed of the 
latest ones, and the great number of English 
ships that have been sunk, but whose loss 
has been ' concealed from the British public.' ' 
The submarine barometer was Set Fair. It 
soon dropped to Change. 

Within six months the industrious and 
outspoken Captain Persius was confessing in 
the Berliner Tageblatt that " regarding the 
effectiveness of our U-boats in the trade war, 
one hears frequently nowadays views that 

5a 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

bear little resemblance to the views uttered 
a year ago. Then, alas, hopes were ex- 
travagant, owing to a disregard of facts 
which the informed expert, indeed, observed, 
but which remained concealed from the 
layman " — a confession of failure, notwith- 
standing the offer of substantial rewards for 
every merchant vessel sunk, and pensions 
for each man in a submarine which destroyed 
a transport. 

Twenty months later Admiral von Scheer 
asserted that German submarine losses were 
more than equalized by new construction. 
Note the definite acknowledgment of losses 
and of the necessity for replacing them. In 
April 19 18 Admiral von Capelle, Imperial 
Secretary of State for the Navy, endeavoured 
to explain the declining maritime death-rate 
of the enemy by assuring the Main Com- 
mittee of the Reichstag that the average loss of 
British ships from submarine attacks alone, 
during 1917, was 600,000 tons per month. 
The truth of the matter was that the average 
loss from all causes was not more than 333,000 
gross tons. According to an official state- 

53 



War in the Under seas 

ment circulated to the German Press on the 
4th of the following June, food conditions in 
England were " extraordinarily bad," because 
the U-boat campaign was " having the intended 
result of constantly diminishing England's 
food supply." In actual fact, the U-boats 
were then having a particularly rough time. 
So far as the German Independent Socialists 
were concerned, they did not " look forward 
with complete confidence," as Dr Michaelis 
had professed to do in July 191 7, "to the 
further labours of our brave submarine 
warriors." Herr Vogtherr, a member of the 
party, bluntly remarked that " it cannot be 
seen that U-boat warfare has brought peace 
nearer. Meanwhile we continue to destroy 
tonnage which we shall need after the war in 
order to obtain necessary raw materials." As 
to the latter clause, the British Mercantile 
Marine has already had something to say. It 
lost 14,661 gallant fellows through enemy 
action. 

According to the statement of a member 
of the crew of the British destroyer which 
rammed U 12, some of the prisoners at least were 

54 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

thankful to be in despised England. They 
said that the coxswain had been a North Sea 
pilot for fifteen years previous to the outbreak 
of war, and though the veriest tyro in matters 
relating to underwater craft, was compelled 
to take service, presumably because he was 
well acquainted with the east coast of the 
United Kingdom. The story of crews being 
forced with the gentle persuasion of a revolver 
to board other U-boats while their own was 
docked to undergo repairs was not necessarily 
exaggerated. There is evidence that on occa- 
sion German seamen were shot for refusing 
to go on board a submarine. The mate of the 
Brazilian steamer Rio Branco, when taking 
the ship's papers to the commander of an 
enemy U-boat, asked a member of the crew 
what life was like as a latter-day pirate. He 
replied in a single word usually taken to denote 
eternal misery, and added that although he 
and his mates would like to mutiny, oppor- 
tunity was never afforded them, because they 
were shot on the slightest pretext. There is 
no reason to doubt that crews were sent to 
sea with insufficient training, and that their 

55 



War in the Underseas 

moral steadily declined as Allied efforts to 
tackle the foe developed. 

With a stoical philosophy which may have 
been specially intended for neutral consump- 
tion, 1 Lieutenant-Commander Claus Hansen 
informed the Kiel representative of the New 
York World that " We need neither doctors 
nor undertakers aboard U 16 ; if anything 
goes wrong with our craft when below no 
doctor can help ; and we carry our coffin 
with us." One can thoroughly appreciate his 
remark that the work " is fearfully trying on 
the nerves. Every man does not stand it." 

The same article also furnishes other in- 
teresting particulars of the life of a modern 
pirate which bear prima facie evidence of 
truth. " We steer entirely by chart and com- 
pass," the commander averred. " As the air 
heats it gets poor, and, mixed with odours of 
oil from machinery, the atmosphere becomes 
fearful. An overpowering sleepiness often 
attacks new men, who require the utmost 
will-power to remain awake. Day after day 
in such cramped quarters, where there is 

1 The United States had not then declared war. 
56 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

hardly room to stretch the legs, where one 
must be constantly alert, is a tremendous 
strain on the nerves. I have sat or stood 
for eight hours with my eyes glued to the 
periscope, peering into the brilliant glass until 
my eyes and head have ached. When the 
crew is worn out, we seek a good sleep and 
rest under the water, the boat often rocking 
gently, with a movement like that of a cradle. 
Before ascending I always order silence for 
several minutes, to determine whether one 
can hear any propellers in the vicinity through 
the shell-like sides of the submarine, which 
act like a sounding-board." 

Hansen gave the interviewer to understand 
that lying dormant many fathoms deep was 
not exactly a treat to his crew. " When the 
weather or the proximity of the enemy make 
it necessary to remain down so long that the 
air becomes unusually bad, every man except 
those actually on duty is ordered to lie down, 
and to remain absolutely quiet, making no 
unnecessary movements, as movement causes 
the lungs to use more oxygen, and oxygen 
must be saved, just as the famished man in 

57 



War in the Under seas 

the desert tries to make the most of his last 
drop of water. As there can be no fire, be- 
cause fire burns oxygen, and the electric power 
from the accumulators is too precious to be 
wasted for cooking, we have to dine cold when 
cruising." This chat, it is necessary to add, 
took place in March 1915. Since then many 
improvements have been made in submarines, 
including ventilation and roominess. 

At this particular period everything possible 
was being done to arouse the enthusiasm of 
the German nation for the Underseas War. 
Carefully written articles by naval men, 
syndicated by official or semi-official Press 
bureaux, made their appearance with almost 
bewildering frequency. German submarines 
had found their way to the Dardanelles, a 
feat attended by much metaphorical trumpet- 
blowing and flag-waving. To quote Captain 
von Kuhlewetter, a devout worshipper at the 
shrine of Tirpitz : 

"The layman can hardly imagine what it 
means for a craft of only 1000 tons displace- 
ment, about 230 feet long and 19 or 20 feet 
beam at its widest point, to make with a 

58 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

crew of thirty a trip as far as from Hamburg 
to New York. The little vessel can only travel 
at moderate speed in order that the petrol 
may last. It is always ready to meet the 
enemy without help of any kind on a journey 
through hostile waters for the entire distance. 
And these submarines did meet the enemy 
often/' 

There is a charming naivete about the 
narrative of a U-boat man who spent some 
time reconnoitring the coast of Scotland. His 
vessel left her base in company with several 
others, including U 15, which failed to return. 
"She fell before the enemy" is his pathetic 
little epitaph to her memory. Each of the 
ten days spent on the trip was divided into 
four shifts for alternate sleep and work. For 
variety there was " a little while under, a 
little while on top." The only sensational 
phase of the cruise appears to have been when 
" one after another had to leave his place for 
a minute and take a peep through the peri- 
scope. It was the prettiest picture I ever 
saw. Up there, like a flock of peaceful lambs, 
lay an English squadron without a care, as if 

59 



War in the Underseas 

there were no German sea-wolves in armoured 
clothing. For two hours we lay there under 
water on the outposts. We could with cer- 
tainty have succeeded in bringing under a 
big cruiser, but we must not. We were on 
patrol. Our boat had other work to do. It 
was a lot to expect from our commander. 
So near to the enemy, and the torpedo must 
remain in its tube ! He must have felt like 
a hunter who, before deer-stalking begins, 
suddenly sights a fine buck thirty paces in 
front of him." 

The reference to British cruisers resembling 
peaceful lambs is delicious. The writer seems 
to have forgotten that so far as ' armoured 
clothing ' goes they are considerably better 
provided than the toughest submarine afloat. 
And what kind of a wolf was it to let such 
easy prey escape ? One surmises a reason 
connected with the British patrol rather than 
with its German counterfeit. 

An American sailor-boy was taken on board 
U39 after that submarine had torpedoed his 
ship. The lad afterward characterized the 
unenviable experience as "a dog's life in a 

60 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

steel can," accompanied by a constant suc- 
cession of rings of the gong that sent every 
member to his appointed station as though 
the Last Trump had blown. The usual menu 
was stew and coffee, the liquid refreshment 
being varied on occasion by the substitution 
of raspberry juice. 

Three captains — a Briton, an American, and 
a Norwegian — were made prisoners on U49. 
For days they were confined in a tiny cabin 
containing three bunks. They took turns in 
the solitary chair that was the only furniture 
other than a folding table. As no light was 
allowed, conversation and change of position 
were their only occupations. They found 
plenty to talk about, but even desultory 
chatter- becomes irksome when it is centred 
around the topic, What will happen ? Still, 
misery loves company, even if it does not 
appreciate cramp. The prisoners were kept 
in this Dark Hole of the Underseas except 
for occasional airings on deck when the craft 
was running awash and there was ' no thin' 
doin' ' in the piracy or anti-piracy line. 
Even then they were closely watched by 

61 



War in the Underseas 

armed guards. Their rations consisted of an 
unpalatable concoction called stew, black bread, 
rancid butter, and alleged marmalade, any 
one of which might have been guaranteed to 
engender mat de mer. 

When off the coast of Spain the com- 
mander of U 49 hailed a Swedish steamer. The 
captain must have been deeply relieved when 
he found that his services were merely required 
as temporary gaoler. He was peremptorily 
told to take charge of the prisoners, and 
land them in the neighbourhood of Camarina. 
Neither ship nor cargo was interfered with. 
Never were mariners more pleased to set foot 
on solid earth. 

This particular barbarian was not quite 
so callous as the presiding genius of U 34. 
Four of the crew of the trawler Victoria, of 
Milford, which he had sunk, were picked up 
by the submarine. Six of their comrades had 
passed to where there is no sea, and required 
no favours from enemy or friend. As though 
they were not sufficiently well acquainted 
with the ways of U34, the survivors were 
summoned on deck the following morning to 

62 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

receive a further object-lesson in humanity 
as the Hun understands it. They were com- 
pelled to watch the death and burial of a 
Cardiff trawler. " England," explained one 
of the German officers, " began the war, and 
we shall sink every ship we see flying the 
British flag." When the latest victim of 
U34 had gone to her watery grave, the men 
were given a handful of biscuits, placed in a 
boat, and left to the mercy of the sea. 

Apparently U-boats were not keen on fine 
weather. " A smooth sea and a lull in the 
wind are very disagreeable for U-boats," said 
Dr Helfferich, the Vice-Chancellor, " especially 
in view of the enemy's defensive measures, 
particularly as regards aircraft. Some U-boat 
commanders are of opinion that U-boat warfare 
can be carried on with still better results when 
the weather is not too fine and the nights are 
longer." 

A certain submarine left her lair at Zeebrugge 
a few days before Vice-Admiral Sir Roger 
Keyes and his band of heroes gave an en- 
forced holiday to those that remained. She 
had not proceeded any great distance before she 

63 



War in the Under seas 

encountered a mine. It did not completely 
put her ' out of mess,' but sent her staggering 
backward in inky darkness to the bottom. 
The electric light had failed with the quick- 
ness of a candle meeting a sudden draught. 
To restore the current was obviously the first 
thing to do. It was not easy working with the 
aid of torches, the boat tipped up on end, 
her stern buried deep in the bed of the sea. 
Primitive man, his tail not yet worn off, would 
have fared better. Eventually the supply was 
restored, and it became possible to make a 
more thorough survey of the damage. The 
engineers found that the shock had paralysed 
the nervous system of the machinery. Not only 
was the boat leaking badly, but the pumps 
refused to blow out the ballast tanks. 

On an even keel the problem would be 
easier to tackle. The men were therefore ordered 
to assemble in the stern and rush forward 
on the word of command. Their combined 
movement had the desired effect. Slowly the 
extra weight in the bow caused the ooze to 
loose its grip. The submarine sank down 
with languid grace. There was now nothing 

64 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 
to hamper movement. Each member of the 
crew had a pair of hands ready for service 
instead of having to employ one for the 
purpose of hanging on. 

The engineers tried to start the motors. 
They refused to budge. Sea- water found its 
way into the accumulators, adding a further 
terror to the overwrought men by the intro- 
duction of poison gas in an atmosphere already 
charged with death. Pirates might laugh when 
they saw British sailors struggling for life in 
icy water, might derive entertainment from 
shelling frail craft laden to the gunwale with 
survivors from ships sunk in pursuance of 
the German cult of frightfulness, but they 
failed to appreciate the humour of the situation 
when they were the victims and the tragedy 
was enacted ioo feet beneath the surface. The 
traditional Nero would never have riddled had 
he felt the scorch of the flames that burnt 
Rome. There is little enough of the alleged 
glory of war in being trapped like a rat. Much 
of its glamour in any circumstance is imaginary, 
and exists chiefly in the minds of scribblers. 
This is not pacificism, but fact. 
e 65 



War in the Underseas 

The sea mounted higher and higher in the 
lonely prison cell. Officers and crew tried to 
staunch the inflow, to stop the leaks with tow 
and other likely material. These devices 
held for a little, then burst away. Some 
sought to make their escape through the 
conning-tower, as Goodhart of the British 
Navy had done ; x others tried to force a 
way out via the torpedo-tubes. Bolts were 
wrenched off, fastenings filed through. The 
doors held firm. The mighty efforts of the 
men met with no reward. They fell back 
exhausted and covered with sweat. The 
pressure from without would have thwarted 
a score of Samsons. The hatches remained 
immovable. 

They read the handwriting on the curved 
walls of their prison : "No hope ! " The 
crew must have cursed the Hohenzollerns 
then. Despair robbed them of reason. One 
fellow went mad, then another, followed by a 
third. A man plunged into the water, now 
up to his knees. His overwrought brain 
could stand the terrible strain no longer. He 

1 See post, p. 161. 

66 



Life as a Latter-day Pirate 

drowned in two feet of water. Nobody moved 
to pull him out. The place became a Bedlam. 
A comrade tried to shoot himself. The re- 
volver merely clicked. In a passion of rage 
he flung both weapon and himself into the 
rising flood. Death was the most desired 
of all things. 

A plate burst, letting in a Niagara. The 
swirl of waters increased the pressure of air 
against the hatches. One of them burst open. 
Those who remained alive were carried off 
their feet and hurled through the aperture. 
The blind forces of Nature succeeded where 
man had failed. A mangled mass of human 
flotsam was flung to the surface. Two maimed 
bodies alone had life in them when a British 
trawler steamed by. A boat was lowered, 
the half-dead forms fished out of the sea. 
Then the enemy, potential victims of these 
men but an hour before, did what they could 
to alleviate their agony. That is the spirit 
and the tradition of the British Sea Service, 
though the sufferer be the Devil himself. 

A survivor of a neutral ship blown up by 
a U-boat, who was kept swimming about for 

67 



War in the Under seas 

ten minutes before being rescued because the 
officers wanted to take some snap-shots, 
avowed that he and his mates were compelled 
to lend a hand with the ammunition. That 
was the Huns' method of making them pay 
their way. Their ' dungeon,' to quote the 
narrator, was "furnished with tubes, pressure 
gauges, flywheels, torpedoes, and the floor 
paved with shells." The life he characterized 
as " monotonous." During their stay of twelve 
days five vessels were sunk. 

As " a recognition of meritorious work during 
the war " the Kaiser created a special decora- 
tion for officers, petty officers, and crews of 
submarines on the completion of their third 
voyage. That did not make them any the 
more enamoured of mines and wasserbomben. 



68 



CHAPTER III 

Germany s Submersible Fleet 

" The submarine is the hunted to-day." — Sir Eric Geddes. 

IN the first phase of the Underseas War 
torpedoes were the favourite weapons of 
the U-boat. The work was done more 
effectively and quicker than was possible with 
the comparatively small guns then mounted. 
Later, the number of ships attacked by shell- 
fire rapidly increased. This was due to several 
reasons. The second method of attack was 
considerably less expensive, for a torpedo 
costs anything from £750 to £1000. Com- 
paratively few merchant vessels had any 
means of defence, for ramming was seldom 
practicable, and other dodges, such as obscur- 
ing the vessel by voluminous smoke from the 
funnels, and steering stern on, thus presenting a 
relatively small target, were equally uncertain. 
Altogether the submarine had things very 
much her own way. She could carry an 
augmented provision of ammunition, and the 

69 



War in the Underseas 

difficulties of supply were more easily met. 
It takes longer to make a torpedo than to 
turn a shell ; to train a torpedo expert than 
a gunner. If no British patrol were at hand, 
the German commander could safely risk 
waging war on the surface. He did not have 
to return to his base so frequently for the 
purpose of replenishing empty magazines, and 
he was saving money for the dear Father- 
land. With increasing range of action the 
necessity for conserving torpedoes became 
more pronounced. The menace grew to 
such proportions in the Mediterranean that 
it was found necessary to send vessels by 
the long Cape route instead of via the Suez 
Canal. 

When slow-moving John Bull at last be- 
stirred himself and decided to arm merchant- 
men, the risks of an exposed U-boat were 
considerably increased. The torpedo again 
came into her own. As Mr Winston Churchill 
told the House of Commons, 1 " the effect of 
putting guns on a merchant ship is to drive 
the submarine to abandon the use of the gun, 

1 21st February, 1917. 
70 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

to lose its surface speed, and to fall back on the 
much slower speed under water and the use 
of the torpedo. The torpedo, compared with 
the gun, is a weapon of much more limited 
application." 

Germany's maritime faith being based on 
the U-boat, despite the Kaiser's dictum that 
" our future lies on the water," many keen 
scientific brains there had a part in its recent 
evolution. Whereas in 1914 the latest type, 
such as U 30, could travel 300 miles submerged 
or 3500 miles entirely on the surface — the 
latter trip an impossibility, of course, with 
the British Navy in being — at least 8800 miles 
were traversed by the submarine which in 
1918 bombarded Monrovia, the capital of 
Liberia, on the west coast of Africa. This is 
assuming that she returned to her home port 
in Europe. 

The following table, in which round figures 
are used, will help us to appraise Germany's 
progress in the construction of U-boats previous 
to the outbreak of hostilities. It is based on 
what is considered to be reliable evidence, 
although the difficulty of obtaining accurate 

7i 



War in the Underseas 

figures will be appreciated. I shall refer to the 
larger types later. 

U I (1905). — Submerged displacement, 236 tons. 
Surface engines, 250 H.P. ; electric motors, 100 H.P. 
Speed, 10 knots on surface, 7 knots submerged. Sur- 
face range, from 700 to 800 miles. Armament, one 
torpedo-tube in bow. Complement, nine officers and 
men. 

U 2-U 8 (1907-10). — Submerged displacement, 250 
tons. Surface engines, 400 H.P. ; electric motors, 160 
H.P. Speed, 12 knots on surface, 8 knots submerged. 
Surface range, 1000 miles. Armament, two torpedo-tubes 
in bow. Fitted with submarine signalling apparatus. 
Complement, eleven officers and men. 

U 9-U 18 (1910-12). — Submerged displacement, 300 
tons. Surface engines, 600 H.P. Speed, 13 knots on 
surface, 8 knots submerged. Surface range, 1500 miles. 
Armament, two torpedo-tubes in bow, one torpedo- 
tube in stern. With U 13 anti-aircraft weapons were 
introduced. 

U 19-U 20 (1912-13). — Submerged displacement, 450 
tons. Surface engines, 650 H.P. ; electric motors, 
300 H.P. Speed, 13 \ knots on surface, 8 knots sub- 
merged. Surface range, 2000 miles. Armament, two 
torpedo-tubes in bow, one torpedo-tube in stern, two 
14-pdr. Q.F. guns. Complement, seventeen officers and 
men. 

U 21-U 24 (1912-13). — Submerged displacement, 800 
tons. Surface engines, 1200 H.P. ; electric motors, 500 
H.P. Speed, 14 knots on surface, 9 knots submerged. 
Surface range, 3000 miles. Armament, two torpedo- 
tubes in bow, two torpedo-tubes in stern, one 14-pdr. 

72 




The Interior of a German Submarine 

Showing the internal combustion engines tor surface work, and the motor-generators 
for driving the propellers when submerged. 



72 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

Q.F. gun, two i-pdr. anti-aircraft guns. Complement, 
twenty-five officers and men. 

U25-U30 (1913-14). — Submerged displacement, 900 
tons. Surface engines, 2000 H.P. ; electric motors, 900 
H.P. Speed, 18 knots on surface, 10 knots submerged. 
Surface range, 4000 miles. Submerged range, 300 miles. 
Armament, two torpedo-tubes in bow, two torpedo-tubes 
in stern, two 14-pdr. Q.F. guns, two i-pdr. anti-air- 
craft guns. Complement, thirty to thirty-five officers 
and men. Upper works lightly armoured. Fitted with 
wireless. 

German U-boats are really submersibles. 
That is to say, the outer shell conforms to the 
shape of an ordinary ship, with a broad deck, 
whereas British submarines resemble a fat 
cigar. Internally they are cylindrical, the 
space intervening between the compartments 
and the shell affording accommodation for 
the ballast tanks. The theory is that vessels 
built to this design are more seaworthy and 
easier to handle. U 36, which was building 
when war broke out, was divided into ten com- 
partments, below which were the steel cylinders 
containing compressed air for freshening the 
atmosphere, oil fuel, lubricating oil, and 
water-ballast tanks, and the accumulators 
for driving the dynamos when travelling 

73 



War in the Underseas 

beneath the surface. The officers' combined 
ward-room and sleeping quarters were for'ard, 
immediately behind the bow torpedo com- 
partment. Adjoining were the crew's quarters, 
divided by a steel bulkhead from the control 
chamber, situated below the conning-tower. 
In the control chamber the steering wheel, 
periscope, projection table on which a surface 
view was thrown after the manner of a camera 
obscura, water-pressure dial, and other delicate 
and necessary instruments for the safety and 
navigation of the ship were distributed. Pro- 
ceeding toward the stern, the petty officers' 
quarters, the machine-room with its heavy oil 
engines for surface work and electric motors 
for progression when submerged, and the stern 
torpedo compartment were to be found. U 36 
was one of the " new super-Dreadnought sub- 
marines," to quote an American correspondent 
who saw them under construction at Kiel. 
On these, he added, " the Germans appear to 
be banking." 

The autumn of 19 15 witnessed the intro- 
duction of mine-laying submersibles. The 
trotyl-filled cylinders were dropped on re- 

74 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

cognized trade routes without the slightest 
regard for the rights of neutrals. The mines 
were kept in a special chamber, ingeniously 
contrived so that it could be flooded without 
the water entering elsewhere, and released 
through a trap-door. Thus another weapon 
was added to the submarine's armoury. It 
answered all too well. " They can follow 
your mine-sweeper," said Sir Edward Carson, 
" and as quickly as you sweep up mines they 
can lay new ones without your knowing or 
suspecting." In 1914 the enemy had only 
one means of sowing these canisters of 
death, namely, by surface vessels. It will 
be recollected that the Konigin Luise was 
sunk in the North Sea on the morning of the 
5th August while on this hazardous duty. 
Germany's opportunity for hurting us in this 
manner was of short duration. The British 
Navy asserted itself, with the result that the 
enemy was perforce compelled to find a new 
method. He resorted to the use of specially 
fitted submarines. 

In due course 4.1-in. guns, mounted on 
disappearing platforms, made their debut, 

75 



War in the Underseas 

followed by U-boats provided with two 5.9-in. 
guns. With increase of gun-power came a neces- 
sary increase in size, and with both several dis- 
tinct advantages and disadvantages. The boats 
were less easy to manoeuvre, required augmented 
crews, and offered a larger area for attack. 
Against these minus qualities must be set those 
of increase of cruising range, and the possibility 
of spoil, the sole excuse of the old-time pirate. 
Hitherto his more scientific successor could 
only sink his victim. Now, given favourable 
conditions, he might carry off goods useful to 
the Fatherland. One German U-boat secured 
twenty-two tons of copper from merchantmen 
destroyed during a 5000-mile cruise. 

Germany waxed particularly enthusiastic over 
her diving-cruisers. These boats displaced 
5000 tons, were from 350 feet to 400 feet 
long, had a much accelerated submerged and 
surface speed, were protected by an armour 
belt of tough steel plate, and mounted a couple 
of 5.9-in. guns. Some of these submersibles seem 
to have been driven by steam when in surface 
trim, others by the usual Diesel engines. On 
the nth May, 1918, a British Atlantic escort 

76 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

submarine came across one of these fine fellows 
travelling awash, likely enough anxious to 
have a shot at the merchant convoy which the 
representative of His Majesty's Navy was 
on her way to pick up. A heavy sea was 
running at the time, but at intervals between 
the waves the periscope revealed the posi- 
tion of his rival to the British commander. 
One torpedo sufficed. The Tauchkreuzer went 
down, carrying with her the sixty or seventy 
men who constituted her company. There 
were no survivors. She had the distinction of 
being the first of the type to be destroyed. 

Germany's merchant service, prizes of war, 
or driven off the seven seas and growing 
barnacles in neutral or home ports, virtually 
ceased to exist at the outbreak of hostilities. 
The mammoth liners which formerly competed 
with our own no longer sailed the seas with 
their holds full of cheap goods and their saloons 
alive with travellers bent on ' peaceful pene- 
tration ' — and other things. It rankled in 
the bosoms of her shipping magnates that the 
much-vaunted High Sea Fleet was impotent 
to prevent Britain ' carrying on ' commercially 

77 



War in the Under seas 

while conducting campaigns in all parts of the 
world. It was true that Germany's U-boats 
were making inroads on the maritime resources 
of her enemy, that when hostilities were over 
they might compete on more than even 
terms because of these losses, but to-day 
rankled though to-morrow was full of hope. 
Likewise the Economic Conference in Paris 
had declared its firm intention to impose 
special conditions on German shipping after the 
war. After the war ! The Director-General of 
the North German Lloyd Line said that the 
English were not so unpractical as to reject a 
favourable freightage or passage. 

I cannot give you the name of the man or 
woman who first suggested the possibilities 
of the submarine for business purposes. The 
idea was certainly not a particularly novel 
one. All I can say definitely is that the 
concern which owned the pioneer vessels was 
called the Ocean Navigation Company, and 
that the president was Herr Alfred Lohmann. 
If British merchantmen could use American 
ports, why not German commercial submarines ? 
The Deutschland was built with this object in 

7 8 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

view. Officially she was described as "a 
vessel engaged in the freight trade between 
Bremen and Boston and other Eastern Atlantic 
ports." 

She left Heligoland on the 23rd June, 1916, 
and arrived at Norfolk News, Virginia, seventeen 
days later. The German Press quite naturally 
went into ecstasies over the achievement. 
Yet it was not quite such a unique event 
as they imagined. Ten submarines built in 
Montreal had crossed the Atlantic nine months 
before. The Deutschland duly discharged her 
cargo, stayed three weeks or so, and returned 
to Germany. The Kaiser showed his pleasure 
by conferring decorations on Herr Lohmann 
and the crew. Germany was again a maritime 
nation — of sorts. 

The submersible had travelled no fewer than 
8500 nautical miles. She made a second 
voyage to America in October. This time her 
port of arrival was New London, Connecticut. 
When starting on her return journey she 
managed to get in collision with one of the 
escorting tugs, which sank with the loss of 
seven of her crew. The Deutschland was the 

79 



War in tlie Under seas 

pioneer of seven similar boats said to be in 
course of construction. A sister vessel, the 
Bremen, was launched and started on a voyage. 
She is now some two years overdue. 

Official Germany revealed no great faith in 
the possibilities of the commercial submarine, 
though this does not necessarily mean that the 
autocrats of the Wilhelmstrasse showed their 
real belief. It sometimes suited them to 
lie. According to the Frankfurter Zeitung, 
£15,000,000 per annum was earmarked for the 
fostering of Germany's moribund merchant 
service in the next decade. 

In October 1916 the depredations of U 53 
off the American coast were hailed by the 
population of Berlin and other German towns 
as a sure prelude to peace. She was the first 
armed U-boat to cross the Atlantic, but the 
German nation saw her multiplied by scores, 
if not by hundreds. Many optimistic folk 
held the belief, based on the wonderful tales 
that were told of huge Allied shipping losses, 
that the war would be over before the 
dawn of a new year. Britons are not the 
only people who have hugged delusions. After 

80 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

having put in at Newport News for a few hours 
and been visited by various notabilities, U 53 
took up a position off the Nantucket Lightship, 
so well known to all Atlantic voyagers. She 
then calmly proceeded to sink half a dozen 
ships — British, Dutch, and Norwegian — under 
the nose of U.S. destroyers. According to 
accounts that were published in American 
newspapers at the time, the submersible had 
four torpedo-tubes, one 4-in. gun forward and one 
3-in. gun aft, three periscopes, wireless apparatus, 
and engines of 1200 h.p. that enabled her to 
travel on the surface at eighteen knots. Her 
submerged speed was understood to be some 
four knots less. 

U-boats were built at the Vulkan and Blohm 
and Voss shipyards of Hamburg ; at Hoboken, 
in the former yards of the Societe John 
Cockerill ; x at Puers, near Termonde ; and at 
the great naval bases of Kiel and Wilhelms- 
haven. Here the parts were assembled, for 
it is fairly evident that the thousand and 
one units of a modern submersible were con- 

1 An Englishman, who started the famous engineering works 
in Belgium at Seraing at the early age of twenty-seven. 

F 8l 



War in the Underseas 

structed on many lathes in many parts of the 
Fatherland. For example, it is believed that 
UC 5, the small mine-layer of 200 tons dis- 
placement captured by the British Navy and 
exhibited off the Thames Embankment, was 
brought in sections to Zeebrugge and put 
together there. 

When German liners were compelled to keep 
in American ports owing to the pressure of 
British sea-power, there seemed not the 
slightest likelihood that the United States 
would become an active participant in the 
war. In 1917 these selfsame steamers were 
traversing 3000 miles of ocean with armed 
tourists bound for Germany, giving the lie 
direct to the Imperial Chancellor's hopeful 
message that Uncle Sam could not " send and 
maintain an army in Europe without injuring 
the transport and supply of the existing Entente 
armies and jeopardizing the feeding of the 
Entente people." The mercantile marine of 
the United States is small, but with the aid of 
former German vessels and British ships her 
troops defied the submarine menace and were 
landed by the hundred thousand in France 

82 



Germany s Submersible Fleet 

as America's splendid contribution toward the 
liberation of the world. The spectacular appear- 
ance of the Deutschland and U 53 fade into 
insignificance before this amazing triumph. 

Speaking at a luncheon given in London 1 
in honour of American Press representatives 
visiting England, Vice-Admiral Sims remarked 
that some of his countrymen regarded it as a 
miracle of their Navy that it had got a million 
and a half troops across the Atlantic in a few 
months and had protected them on the way. 
"We didn't do that," he avowed. "Great 
Britain did. She brought over two-thirds of 
them and escorted a half. We escort only one- 
third of the merchant vessels that come here." 

America has been most generous in her 
appreciation of the part played by Britain in 
the war. 

1 By the English-Speaking Union, nth October, 1918. 



83 



CHAPTER IV 

Pygmies among Giants 

" This is the first time since the Creation that all the world has 
been obliged to unite to crush the Devil." — Rudyard Kipling. 

TWO weeks after the declaration of 
war Count von Reventlow was cock- 
a-hoop regarding the " attitude of 
reserve " of what he was kind enough to term 
the " alleged sea-commanding Fleet of the 
greatest naval Power in the world." "This 
fleet,' ' he asserted, " has now been lying idle 
for more than a fortnight, so far from the 
German coast that no cruiser and no German 
lightship has been able to discover it, and it is 
repeatedly declared officially, ' German waters 
are free of the enemy.' " 

Whether the Count was aware of the fact 
or not, British submarines were watching in 
the vicinity of the ironclad fortress of Heligo- 
land three hours after hostilities had begun. 
Had the High Sea Fleet ventured out it would 
have been greeted with anything but an 
" attitude of reserve," as part of it found to its 

84 



Pygmies among Giants 

cost on the 28th August, 19 14. The initiative 
on that splendid occasion was taken by the 
British, who compelled the enemy to give 
battle by means of a delightful little ruse in 
which submarines not only played the leading 
part, but had " supplied the information on 
which these operations were based." 

At midnight on the 26th August Commo- 
dore Roger Keyes hoisted his broad pennant on 
the Lurcher, a small T.B.D. of only 765 tons, 
and accompanied by the Firedrake, of similar 
displacement, escorted eight submarines to 
sea. On the night of the 27th the vessels 
parted company, the submarines to take up 
positions preparatory to the following day's 
work. Destroyer flotillas, the Battle Cruiser 
Squadron, the First Light Cruiser Squadron, 
and the Seventh Cruiser Squadron also left 
their various bases and made toward the 
Bight. 

At dawn the Lurcher and the Firedrake 
carefully searched for U-boats the area that 
would be traversed by the battle cruisers in 
the succeeding operations, and then began 
to spread the net into which it was hoped the 

85 



War in the Underseas 

Germans would fall. E 6, E 7, and E 8, 
travelling awash, proceeded in the direction 
of Heligoland, the destroyers following at 
some distance. They were " exposing them- 
selves with the object of inducing the enemy 
to chase them to the westward." In this 
decoy work the submarines were eminently 
successful. In the ensuing action they played 
no active part. " On approaching Heligo- 
land," to quote the Commodore's dispatch, 
" the visibility, which had been very good to 
seaward, reduced to 5000 to 6000 yards, and 
this added considerably to the anxieties and 
responsibilities of the Commanding Officers 
of Submarines, who handled their vessels 
with coolness and judgment in an area which 
was necessarily occupied by friends as well as 
foes. Low visibility and calm sea are the 
most unfavourable conditions under which 
Submarines can operate, and no opportunity 
occurred of closing with the Enemy's Cruisers 
to within torpedo range." The German 
U-boats were no more fortunate. Three of 
them attacked the Battle Cruiser Squadron 
before it was engaged, to be frustrated by 

86 



Pygmies among Giants 

rapid manoeuvring and the attention of four 
destroyers. The use of the helm also saved 
the Queen Mary and the Lowestoft during the 
battle. 

The most enthralling incident in the fight 
centres around E 4, whose commander wit- 
nessed the sinking of the German torpedo- 
boat U 187 through his periscope. British 
destroyers immediately lowered their boats 
to pick up survivors. They were rewarded 
by salvoes from a cruiser. Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Ernest W. Leir prepared to torpedo 
the vessel, but before he could do so she had 
altered course and got out of range. Having 
covered the retirement of the destroyers, he 
went to the rescue of the boats, which had 
necessarily been abandoned. The story of what 
followed is well told by a lieutenant in a letter 
to the Morning Post. 

" The Defender," he writes, " having sunk 
an enemy, lowered a whaler to pick up her 
swimming survivors ; before the whaler got 
back an enemy's cruiser came up and chased 
the Defender, and thus she abandoned her 
whaler. Imagine their feelings ; alone in an 

87 



War in the Underseas 

open boat without food ; twenty-five miles 
from the nearest land, and that land the 
enemy's fortress, with nothing but fog and 
foes around them. Suddenly a whirl alongside, 
and up, if you please, pops His Britannic 
Majesty's submarine E 4, opens his conning- 
tower, takes them all on board, shuts up again, 
dives, and brings them home 250 miles ! Is 
not that magnificent ? No novelist would dare 
face the critics with an episode like that in his 
book, except, perhaps, Jules Verne ; and all 
true ! " 

Another survivor asserts that while he was 
in the whaler about two hundred shells burst 
within twenty yards without doing the slightest 
damage to the company. A lieutenant and 
nine men of the Defender were stowed below 
in E 4, while a German officer, six un- 
wounded men, and twenty-six others who 
had sustained injuries of various kinds were 
provided with water, biscuit, and a compass, 
and told to make for land. A German officer 
and two A.B.s were taken prisoners of war. 
" Lieutenant-Commander Leir's action," the 
Commodore justly remarks, " in remaining on 



Pygmies among Giants 

the surface in the vicinity of the enemy, and in 
a visibility that would have placed his vessel 
within easy gun range of an enemy appearing 
out of the mist, was altogether admirable." 
The enemy suffered the loss of three cruisers 
and a destroyer, and one cruiser and at least 
seven torpedo-boats were badly mauled. 

Reference has already been made to the 
running fight in the North Sea on the 24th of 
the following January, when Sir David Beatty 
very effectively prevented a raid on the North- 
east Coast, and to the Battle of Jutland. 1 
The former affair, characterized by the Germans 
as having been broken off by the British, and 
in which they sank a hypothetical battle-cruiser, 
ended in the loss of the Blucher and serious 
damage to two other enemy battle-cruisers. 
The enemy squadron escaped because Sir 
David Beatty had chased them to the verge 
of "an area where danger from German sub- 
marines and mines prevented further pursuit." 
The Germans were so keen on meeting the 
hated British that they sheered off immediately 
they sighted our ships and laid a straight 

1 See ante, pp. 35-38. 
89 



War in the Underseas 

course for home. Although the Lion and the 
destroyer Meteor were disabled, they reached 
harbour safely and the necessary repairs were 
speedily effected. 

These are some of the high lights of a picture 
which has in it many dark and sombre shadows. 
Enemy submarines exacted a heavy toll of 
the British Navy. It would be a tedious 
business to detail the loss of every man- 
of-war lost by enemy action. Casualty lists 
make uncongenial reading, but it is well to 
bear in mind that Germany's campaign was not 
entirely devoted to commerce-destroying. I 
shall therefore deal with some of the more 
outstanding triumphs of her attempt to control 
the Empire of the Ocean from below before 
dealing with the victories of her British rivals 
in the Realm of the Underseas. 

H.M.S. Pathfinder was the first naval vessel 
to be lost by submarine action in the Great 
War. When the news was given to the public, 
it was announced that this fast light cruiser 
of 2700 tons had struck a mine " about 
twenty miles off the East Coast," a geo- 
graphical expression conveying the minimum of 

90 



Pygmies among Giants 

information. The intimation sent to relatives 
of those who lost their lives stated that the 
ship had been sunk by a submarine, which was 
the case. The discrepancy in the two state- 
ments was due to a belief that the Pathfinder 
had been blown up in the manner originally 
described. Subsequent investigation proved 
this to be incorrect. It was not contradicted 
at once because the Admiralty held that 
possibly the intelligence might hamper opera- 
tions for catching the offender. It must have 
occurred to many people, however, that a 
notice issued shortly after the original com- 
munique, that all aids to navigation on the 
East Coast of England and Scotland were 
liable to be removed, was more or less con- 
nected with the loss of the cruiser and the 
presence of enemy submarines. When letters 
from survivors began to appear in the news- 
papers it was clear that a torpedo had caused 
the loss of the ship, which foundered twelve 
miles north of St Abb's Head, Berwickshire. 
The approach of the weapon was observed 
by some of those on board, and the order 
was given for the engines to be stopped and 

9i 



War in the Under seas 

reversed. It was too late. The explosion took 
place close to the bridge, causing the magazine 
to blow up. 

" I saw a flash," says a survivor, " and the 
ship seemed to lift right out of the water. Down 
went the mast and forward funnel and fore 
part of the ship, and all the men there must 
have been blown to atoms." When the order 
to man the boats was given it was found that 
only one boat was left whole ; it capsized on 
reaching the water. Nothing could be done 
to save the Pathfinder, now partly on fire and 
in extremis. The death-knell of hope rang out 
sharp and clear : " Every man for himself." 
Officers and crew jumped overboard and made 
for anything floatable that had been flung 
adrift by the explosion or thrown out by the 
men themselves when the last dread order 
had been given. Wonderful work was done by 
a lieutenant and a chief petty officer. Both 
of them powerful swimmers, they paddled 
about collecting wreckage, and pushing it 
toward those in need of help. One of the 
most miraculous escapes was that of Staff- 
Surgeon T. A. Smyth, who got jammed beneath 

92 



Pygmies among Giants 

a gun, was carried down with the ship, and 
escaped with a few bruises. 

The dramatic swiftness attending the loss 
of the Aboukir, the Hogue, and the Cressy 
accentuated the ruthless nature of the sea 
campaign in the public mind. The three 
armoured cruisers were struck down within 
an hour by the same submarine. They were 
patrolling in company, and two of them were 
lost while going to the assistance of the 
Aboukir, which was believed to have struck 
a mine. 

Sixty officers and over 1400 men, many of 
them reservists, perished as a sequel to Otto 
Weddigen's prowess and their own humanity, 
or more than the total British losses at the 
battles of the Glorious First of June, St Vincent, 
the Nile, and Trafalgar. From a naval point 
of view the loss of the ships was unimportant. 
One is apt to forget that men-of war have 
often a floating population equal to many a 
place in the United Kingdom which prides 
itself on being called a town. If several hun- 
dred inhabitants of such a spot were wiped 
out in a few minutes it would be regarded as 

93 



War in the Underseas 

a terrible happening. The tragedy of the 
affair would come home to us because a similar 
thing might occur where we live. Yet often 
enough a naval disaster arouses nothing more 
than scant sympathy and a mere comment. 
During the Great War those at sea in our big 
ships faced such disasters every hour of every 
day and every night. 

Fortunately the Aboukir, the Rogue, and 
the Cressy did not constitute the " British 
North Sea Fleet," as ultra-patriotic German 
newspapers inferred. According to his own 
statement, the commander of U 9 was eighteen 
nautical miles to the north-west of the Hook 
of Holland when he first sighted the cruisers, 
time 6.10 a.m. The vessels were proceeding 
slowly in line ahead, and the first torpedo 
struck the Aboukir, which was the middle 
ship. The reverberations of the explosion 
could be felt in the submarine, for " the shot 
had gone straight and true." The Aboukir' s 
consorts closed on her, intent on offering 
assistance, but, as Weddigen points out, this 
was playing his game. They were torpedoed 
in rapid succession. " I had scarcely to move 

94 



Pygmies among Giants 

out of my position, which was a great aid, 
since it helped to keep me from detection." 
One shot from the Cressy, he adds, " came 
unpleasantly near to us." The commander 
pays a generous tribute to his foes : " They 
were brave, true to their country's sea tradi- 
tions." In one thing only was he unsuccessful. 
The cruisers were unattended by a covering 
force of destroyers, but while U 9 was re- 
turning to her lair he came across some of 
these vessels. By exposing his periscope at 
intervals Weddigen hoped to entice them 
into a zone where capture or destruction by 
German warships was probable. Although the 
destroyers failed to put an end to his career, 
he likewise failed to get the flies into the 
spider's parlour. 

The Admiralty held that the commanders 
of the Rogue and the Cressy committed a 
pardonable error of judgment, and noted that 
" the conditions which prevail when one vessel 
of a squadron is injured in a mine-field or is 
exposed to submarine attack are analogous to 
those which occur in an action, and that the 
rule of leaving disabled ships to their own 

95 



War in the Underseas 

resources is applicable, so far at any rate as 
large vessels are concerned." 

The Hawke, a cruiser of 7350 tons, with an 
armament of two 9.2-in., ten 6-in., twelve 
6-pdr., and five 3-pdr. guns, plus two 18-in. 
submerged torpedo-tubes, was characterized by 
some of those in the Service as an unlucky 
ship. She had collided with the White Star 
liner Olympic when that vessel was on her 
maiden voyage, an incident deemed quite 
sufficient to justify sinister prophecies of an 
untimely end. On that occasion she lost her 
ram, which was replaced by a straight stem. 
On the 15th October, 1914, when the war was 
only a little over two months old, she was 
torpedoed by U 29, with the loss of some three 
hundred officers and men. Her enemies were 
subsequently decorated with the Iron Cross 
at the hands of the Crown Princess. 

H.M.S. Theseus, a vessel of the same class 
which was patrolling with the Hawke in 
northern waters at the time, was attacked 
first, but managed to escape. The submarine 
then aimed at the Hawke, hitting her amid- 
ships on the starboard side aft of the fore 

96 



Pygmies among Giants 

funnel, and probably blowing up the magazine, 
as in the case of the Path-finder. She settled 
very rapidly, " at God knows what angle," 
according to an eye-witness. She had nearly 
a hundred watertight doors, but even they can 
buckle and jam, and are not explosive-proof. 
When the order was given to abandon ship 
a few of the crew managed to get into one of 
the boats, while about forty others scrambled 
on to a raft. Commander Bernhard Pratt- 
Barlow was of the company. " There are too 
many on this raft," he remarked, " I will swim 
to another." He dived in, but was never seen 
again. It was merely prolonging the agony 
for most of those who remained. Before night 
many of the poor fellows had succumbed to 
exposure and the bitter cold. After being 
on the raft for twenty-three hours the sur- 
vivors were picked up by a destroyer, and 
after recovery proceeded to Portsmouth for a 
new kit. The last seven words epitomize the 
splendid spirit of the British Navy. 

The Hermes, an old cruiser used as a sea- 
plane-carrying ship, was sunk in the Straits 
of Dover in October 19 14, while returning 
g 97 



War in the Underseas 

from Dunkirk. She was the victim of two 
torpedoes fired by a U-boat. The sea was 
choppy, which may account for the submarine's 
escape, for she was not seen. As the Hermes 
was near the warships engaged in bombard- 
ing the Dunes in support of the Belgians, it 
is more than likely that the enemy vessel 
had been hopeful of catching larger fry, an 
expectation which did not materialize. One 
sailor who endeavoured to make himself more 
or less comfortable on an upturned table was 
asked if he was training for the next Derby, 
while two fellows in similar straits informed 
their friends in the water that they were Oxford 
and Cambridge. The Hermes must have been 
what is called a ' matey ' ship. The majority 
of her company were saved. 

Another loss to the Navy in 1914 was the 
Niger, a torpedo gunboat built in 1892 and 
sister ship to the Speedy, mined on the 3rd 
September. 

The little vessel of 810 tons was torpedoed 
while on patrol duty by the first U-boat which 
succeeded in dealing destruction in the Downs. 
Despite a high wind and a heavy sea, all the 

98 



Pygmies among Giants 

officers and seventy-seven men were saved, 
thanks in no small measure to the efforts of 
three Deal boats and the fact that many of 
the bluejackets were wearing life-saving collars. 
The submarine was seen approaching from 
the direction of South Sand Head Lightship, 
but as the Niger was anchored she was an 
easy prey. At the moment of impact the wire- 
less operator was actually sending the SOS 
signal. When the explosion occurred Lieutenant- 
Commander A. T. Muir was on the navigation 
bridge, which, despite severe injuries, he vacated 
only after every other person had left the 
sinking vessel. 

The gunboat was struck abaft the foremast. 
Although the bow was soon under water, she 
kept afloat for quite twenty minutes, probably 
because orders had been given for the water- 
tight doors to be closed. One poor fellow 
was lugged through one of the portholes ; 
another scrambled aboard after he had been 
rescued, hauled down the flag, and returned 
to the boat. 

The torpedoing of the Formidable was an 
inauspicious omen for 1915. This, the fourth 

99 



War in the Underseas 

ship to bear the name of one of Hawke's prizes 
in the battle of Quiberon Bay, was a pre- 
Dreadnought of 15,000 tons, armed with four 
12-in. and twelve 6-in. guns, twenty-six smaller 
weapons, and four submerged torpedo-tubes. 
She was encountering a south-west gale in the 
Channel at 2.20 a.m. on New Year's Day 
when a torpedo struck her abaft the starboard 
magazine and abreast of No. 1 stokehold. 
The Formidable was the first victim of a sub- 
marine attack in the darkness of night. While 
boats were being got away, and chairs, tables, 
and other floating articles thrown overboard 
for use as life-savers, a torpedo exploded on 
her port side. Captain Loxley, puffing at a 
cigarette, gave orders from the bridge as coolly 
and collectedly as though the Formidable was 
making her way to Portsmouth Harbour on an 
even keel in the piping times of peace. " Into 
the water with you ! She's going ! " he sang out. 
" Good-bye, lads. Every man for himself, and 
may God help you all ! " He went down 
with his vessel and as goodly a company of sea- 
dogs as ever trod the deck of a British battle- 
ship. Over five hundred officers and men 

100 



Pygmies among Giants 

were coffined in the Formidable or drowned in 
attempting to get away. 1 The loss of this 
useful, if obsolescent, vessel was severely 
criticized by Admiral Lord Charles Beresford. 2 
He commented on the fact that the squadron 
of which the battleship was a unit had started 
from port with destroyers and afterward sent 
them back, also that the ship had slackened 
speed in an area known to be infested with 
submarines. 

Although it was announced that the battle- 
ship Russell struck a mine in the Mediter- 
ranean, the Germans claimed that she was 
sunk by one of their U-boats. This was the 
second pre-Dreadnought and the third flag- 
ship to pay the price of Admiralty during 
the war. The Russell, named after one of 
six famous admirals, was commissioned in 
1903, and completed her career on the 27th 
April, 1916. She carried four 12-in., twelve 
6-in., ten 12-pdr., and two 3-pdr. guns, and 
four torpedo-tubes. Although Rear-Admiral 

1 I have dealt with the loss of the three cruisers and of the 
Formidable at much greater length in Stirring Deeds of 
Britain's Sea-dogs, pp. 159-174, 292-302. 

1 Now Admiral Lord Beresford. 

IOI 



War in the Underseas 

S. R. Fremantle, M.V.O., the captain, twenty- 
four other officers, and 676 men were saved, 
over 100 of her complement were reported 
as missing. 

Of the five capital ships lost by Britain in 
the Dardanelles campaign, the Ocean and the 
Irresistible were lost by mines or torpedoed 
from the shore, the Goliath was torpedoed in 
a destroyer attack, and the Triumph and 
the Majestic were submarined. On the 22nd 
May, 1915, the periscope of a U-boat was 
sighted from the battleship Prince George. 
A couple of rounds made the submersible 
take cover. That was the first occasion on 
which enemy underwater craft had put in an 
appearance in the vicinity of the Gallipoli 
peninsula. Three days later the Swiftsure 
was on the verge of being attacked, but her 
gunners proved too wide-awake and drove 
off the enemy. A little later the submarine 
discharged a torpedo at the Vengeance, and 
missed. On the 26th the enemy was seen 
again, escaped, and plugged two or three 
torpedoes into the Triumph, lying stationary 
off the now famous, or infamous, Gaba Tepe. 

102 



Pygmies among Giants 

Her nets were down, but the weapons went 
through them with almost as much ease as 
a circus clown jumps through a hoop covered 
with tissue-paper. Henceforth devotees of 
this form of protection had little to say. 
The battleship disappeared in fifteen minutes, 
fortunately without a heavy roll of casualties. 
Three officers and fifty-three of her consider- 
able company were lost. Like the Swiftsure, 
her sister ship, the Triumph was built for the 
Chilian Government and purchased by Britain. 
An enemy submarine exacted another toll 
on the following day, when the Majestic, one 
of the oldest battleships on active service, was 
sunk while supporting the troops against an 
attack by the Turks. Within four minutes 
of the explosion, says a member of the 
French Expeditionary Force who witnessed 
the catastrophe, the Majestic turned completely 
over and went down. " It was a terrible 
moment," he adds, " but it was also sublime 
when 600 men, facing death mute and strong, 
were thrown into the sea, covered and caught 
in the torpedo nets, which ensnared them like 
an immense cast-net among the gigantic eddies 

103 



War in the Underseas 

and the profound sobs of their dear annihilated 
battleship. I shall never forget that infernal 
instant when submarines, aeroplanes, cannons, 
and quick-firing guns dealt death around me. 
And yet this vision only lasted the space of 
a flash of lightning, for we too looked death 
in the face, and in our own ship's boats we 
took part in the finest rescue that the palette 
of an artist ever represented." 

So the French have forgiven us for Nelson 
and Trafalgar ! 

The last battleship to be sunk by a U-boat 
in the World War was H.M.S. Britannia, lost 
near Gibraltar on the 9th November, 1918. 
Two explosions occurred, killing some forty of 
the crew. An hour and a half later, while she 
was still afloat, the periscope of a submersible 
was spotted. The guns of the stricken leviathan 
were trained and fired, with what success is 
uncertain. Then two destroyers dropped depth 
charges where the enemy was seen to submerge. 
If her ugly sides ever rose again they certainly 
did not do so in the vicinity of the Britannia. 
Shortly afterward the battleship turned turtle 
in deep water. 

304 



CHAPTER V 

Tragedy in the Middle Seas 

" Germany must for all time to come maintain her claim to 
sea-power." — Lt.-Gen. Baron von Freytag-Loringhoven, 
Deputy Chief of the German General Staff. 

THE Adriatic afforded much inter- 
esting naval news. The strategy of 
the Austrians was exactly that of 
the High Sea Fleet — tip-and-run raids and 
avoidance of battle whenever possible. During 
the blockade of the Austro-Hungarian naval 
ports of Pola and Cattaro previous to Italy's 
becoming an active participant in the war, 
the battleships and cruisers of the French Fleet 
were frequent objects of attacks on the part 
of enemy underwater craft. The armoured 
cruiser Leon Gambetta escaped being sub- 
marined on the 2nd September, 19 14, only 
to fall a victim on the 27th April, 1915. The 
Austrian U 5, a small boat with a surface 
displacement of 235 tons, commanded by 
Lieutenant von Trapp, picked her up some 
twenty miles south-west of Cape Leuca. It 

105 



War in the Underseas 

was a brilliant moonlight night, the armoured 
cruiser was steaming slowly, and hitherto no 
U-boat in the Adriatic had betrayed activity 
after the passing of day. The great black 
shape, with its four massive funnels, stood 
out a mammoth silhouette as the first torpedo 
sped on its devastating errand. It struck 
the port side, wrecked the dynamos, and 
plunged the ship in darkness, precluding the 
possibility of a momentary flash of a search- 
light to discover the assailant. The wire- 
less was also put out of action by the same 
cause. A second torpedo wrought havoc in 
one of the boiler-rooms. " From the heel- 
ing of the cruiser," says a Vienna account, 
" Lieutenant Trapp concluded that a further 
torpedo was unnecessary." 

An effort was made to beach the ship. This 
failing, it became the difficult task of Captain 
Andre to provide for the safety of his crew, 
a task not only hampered by lack of illu- 
mination, but by the boats having been swung 
inboard to ensure the more effective use of 
anti-torpedo guns. " The boats are for you ; 
we officers will remain," Admiral Senes told 

1 06 



Tragedy in the Middle Seas 

the crew without the slightest affectation of 
heroism, although neither he nor any single 
individual on the quarterdeck was to be 
saved. He called the men his children, told 
them to keep steady and take to the boats. 
" Forward, sailors of France ! " he cried. " My 
destiny is here," said Commander Deperiere, 
the worthy colleague of so gallant an officer. 
" I die with my ship. Vive la France ! " 

Portable torches were used to show the way 
to the wounded and the sick. To make escape 
easier the captain issued orders to fill the 
starboard compartments so as to counter- 
balance the intake of water on the other side. 
He did not want the great ship to turn turtle 
before mes en/ants had been afforded an oppor- 
tunity to escape. One officer, anxious to 
restrain any undue haste that would retard 
escape, took out a cigar from his case, lit it, 
and puffed away as calmly as though he were in 
Toulon Harbour instead of standing in a foot 
of water on a ship that was rapidly sinking 
under him. " Vive la France ! " shouted the 
officers on the bridge ; " Vive la France ! " 
echoed the many who had failed to get away. 

107 



War in the Under seas 

With that ringing cheer of Victory and not 
of Defeat, the Leon Gambetta and 684 officers 
and men of the gallant company disappeared 
out of the night into the greater darkness. 
From first to last the tragedy took just ten 
minutes. 

Those who were saved owed their lives to 
the fine courage of the commanders of Italian 
torpedo-boats and destroyers, who ran the risk 
of being mistaken for French men-of-war. 1 
Jean and Jacques are never at a loss when 
it comes to paying a compliment. Had they 
been British sailors who were pulled out of the 
water, a gruff but well-meant " Much obliged " 
would probably have sufficed. Frenchmen are 
more artistic. They cried " Vive ITtalie ! " 
As for U 5, when she returned to Cattaro she 
was naturally received with honours. 

The Danton, a French battleship with a 
displacement of 18,028 tons, completed at 
Brest in the spring of 1909, was on the point 
of celebrating the seventh anniversary of 
her launching when she was struck down in 
the Mediterranean on the 19th March, 1917. 

1 Italy was then a neutral. 
108 



Tragedy in the Middle Seas 
She had taken many months to build, but 
took only thirty minutes to sink. Destruction 
comes easier to man than construction. Two 
torpedoes accomplished her end. Fortunately 
the catastrophe occurred in the afternoon, and 
the tragedy of the personnel of the Lion 
Gambetta was not repeated, although even 
then 296 of her company lost their lives. The 
destroyer Massue and patrol vessels rescued 
the remaining 806 officers and men. 

The story of how Lieutenant-Captain Robert 
Moraht sent the Danton to her doom was sub- 
sequently told by himself. The following is 
based on his lively narrative. 

At midday the U-boat was off the south- 
west point of Sardinia, and those of the crew 
not actually required for the working of the 
ship were enjoying a breath of fresh air 
on deck with a delightful sense of having 
nothing whatever to do. Moraht was below, 
when the whistle of the speaking-tube blew a 
short, sharp blast. He answered the summons 
readily enough. " A steamer on the port 
bow," came the message, spoken in a tone of 
some urgency. Almost before the commander 

109 



War in the Underseas 

had taken his ear from the instrument the 
men were clattering down the ladders and 
taking up action stations. Reaching the con- 
ning-tower with some difficulty by reason of 
the undue haste, Moraht distinctly saw the 
outlines of the vessel whose appearance had so 
suddenly changed their programme for the 
afternoon. The commander picked it up with 
his glasses. " French battleship ! " announced a 
fellow officer who was standing at the telescope. 
At the moment the commander's thoughts 
were centred on whether the U-boat had been 
seen, whether hunter and hare were both aware 
of the other's presence. 

Apparently not. The D anion kept on her 
zigzag course, as yet far out of range. Had 
she sighted the submarine she could have 
got clear away ; there was little chance now, 
for Moraht had submerged. Presently a 
destroyer made her appearance, likewise zig- 
zagging, and in advance of the battleship. 
The U-boat was nearer the object of her 
vengeance, and likewise nearer danger. De- 
stroyers are to submarines what terriers are 
to rats. Moraht felt a shade uncomfortable. 

no 



Tragedy in the Middle Seas 

Besides, a battleship in the Mediterranean, 
or any other sea for the matter of that, does 
not go about blind. Keen eyes look out for 
her safety and their own. What the men on 
the destroyer might miss, those on the Danton 
might find. The commander of the submarine 
was sparing in the use of the periscope. There 
is a tell-tale wake when that apparatus is above 
the surface that human device cannot dispel. 
The waters, parted by the tube, embrace as 
though long separated, leaving a trail of emo- 
tion behind. Moraht popped it up now 
and again as necessity compelled, took his 
bearings, lowered it, and checked his course. 

The weather conditions on this ' Mediter- 
ranean Front ' changed in favour of the 
Germans, as they usually did in France, accord- 
ing to popular belief, whenever the Allies took 
the offensive. Listen to the commander : "A 
considerable lightening of the mist was rolling 
up from the north-west, and the wind was 
freshening; thick white tufts of foam stood 
on the deep blue sea. That was the light 
we wanted. Anyhow, nobody saw us. The 
destroyer raced past without suspicion about 

in 



War in the Underseas 

600 yards off, then the giant ship herself came 
before our bow. Everything was just right 
to-day. ' Both tubes, attention ! No. 1 — let 
go ! No. 2 — let go.' " 

The periscope vanished, its wash was re- 
placed by that of the torpedoes and a liberal 
accompaniment of bubbles. The weapons, at 
an interval of five seconds between them, tore 
the ship asunder. Later, from a safer distance, 
Moraht took a peep at his victim in her death- 
agony. The rudder was hard to port, proof 
that the twin harbingers of destruction had 
been seen and a fruitless attempt made to 
dodge them. The torpedoes could scarcely 
have performed their duty more loyally. The 
Danton's massive keel was where her turrets 
ought to have been ; her bulgy side, with case- 
mates resembling a fortress, revealed " two 
holes like barn doors." 

Moraht says that his boat ' buck-jumped ' 
after the shots. This means that the com- 
pensating tanks, which fill with water to make 
up for loss of displacement when a torpedo 
leaves the tube, did not act quickly enough. 
As a consequence the periscope and the upper 

112 



Tragedy in the Middle Seas 

part of the superstructure appeared above the 
surface for a second or two. The Massue 
dropped depth charges, and the ' buck-jump ' 
may not have been entirely unconnected with 
them. 

To-day the submarine that robbed the Allies 
of a fine ship mounting four 12-in., a dozen 
9.4-in., and sixteen 2.9-in. guns does not figure 
as a fighting unit in what remains of the German 
Navy. She has joined the Danton, 

Visiting the bottom of the monstrous world. 

Austrian submarines depleted the ranks of 
Italy's naval forces by several ships, but the 
hereditary enemy of the Land of Dante 
lost considerably more at the hands of Italy, 
which also policed some 300 miles of coast 
with flotillas of hydroplanes in addition to 
the regular naval units. During a recon- 
naissance in force in the Upper Adriatic, the 
Amalfi, an armoured cruiser of 9958 tons 
displacement, carrying four 10-in. and eight 
7.5-in. guns, was torpedoed at dawn on the 
7th July, 1915. According to information re- 
ceived, it was the intention of the Austrians to 
h 113 



War in the Under seas 

bombard the Italian coast. While searching 
the Dalmatian littoral for the enemy, with the 
idea of bringing him to battle before he could 
carry out his object, the cruiser was lost. The 
ship listed heavily to port almost immediately, 
and sank in less than thirty minutes. Nearly 
all her officers and crew, numbering 684, were 
saved. Before giving orders to leave the ship 
the commander lined up his men on the 
quarterdeck and shouted, " Long live the 
King ! Long live Italy ! " The response was 
not less hearty than if they had been given a 
week's leave. 

One instance of extraordinary bravery stands 
out conspicuously, though the discipline was 
exemplary in every respect. While in the 
water the chief engineer was drawn toward the 
revolving propellers, and one of his arms was 
completely severed. A surgeon witnessed the 
incident when swimming at no great distance 
away. With powerful strokes he reached the 
injured officer, took off his own belt, applied 
it as a tourniquet, and then supported the 
sufferer until help arrived. The surgeon was 
on the verge of collapse, but he had performed 

114 



Tragedy in the Middle Seas 
a feat probably unique in the annals of 
first aid. 

The second armoured ship to be lost by 
Italy was torpedoed three weeks later in the 
same sea. She bore the honoured name of 
Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose presentation swords 
of gold were kept on board as treasures beyond 
price. The cruiser formed part of a squadron 
that had been bombarding the railway and 
fortifications at Cattaro, where a number of 
Austrian battleships had taken refuge, un- 
willing to face four Italian vessels which had 
outlived their youth. The enemy adopted 
much more stealthy tactics. As the Giuseppe 
Garibaldi, the Vettor Pisani, the Varese, and 
the Ferruccio were steaming away they sent 
out a flotilla of submarines. The first attack 
was skilfully fended. Subjected to a withering 
fire, in which the Giuseppe Garibaldi joined, two 
of the U-boats sought safety in flight. U 4 was 
so badly damaged that she sank. A fourth 
either lay ' doggo ' for a time or returned to 
the attack a little later. Her first torpedo, 
fired at the close range of about 500 yards, 
missed, but the second did such damage, despite 

115 



War in the Underseas 

the cruiser's belt of 6-in. armour, that saving 
her was out of the question. The majority of 
her crew of 540 were rescued. 

When Germany and Austria arranged to 
drench Europe in blood in pursuit of Teutonic 
ambitions, the Austro-Hungarian Navy pos- 
sessed three completed Dreadnoughts, of which 
the Viribus Unitis was one. This powerful 
battleship of 22,000 tons, carrying twelve 
13-in. guns, twelve 5.9-in. quick-firers, six 
torpedo-tubes, and a complement of nearly 
1000 officers and men, was attacked in Pola 
Harbour by an intrepid French submarine, 
which succeeded in damaging her to such an 
extent that she was rendered useless for a 
considerable time. Had she been at sea it is 
probable the Viribus Unitis would have sunk, 
but plenty of assistance was handy, and she 
reached dry dock with a very ugly wound in 
her hull and certain portions of her engines 
so badly wrecked that the workshops at Trieste 
had to get busy to provide new parts. This 
was in December 1914. She was still in Pola 
Harbour in May 1918, when a little Italian 
motor-boat penetrated the mine-field, cables, 

116 



Tragedy in the Middle Seas 

and steel nets guarding the entrance and com- 
pleted the discomfiture of the great vessel. 
Captain Pellegrini and three volunteers dis- 
charged two torpedoes at the Viribus Unitis, 
and after seeing them take effect, sank their 
own tiny craft to prevent it from falling 
into the hands of the enemy. This was the 
thirteenth operation by the Italian Navy 
against enemy bases, and was completely suc- 
cessful. Apparently the Dreadnought was re- 
surrected, for she was again sunk in November 
1918 by means of a time-charge laid by two 
Italian officers. 

Italy also lost several fine destroyers by 
attack from Austrian or German U-boats. 
The Impetuoso was submarined in the Straits 
of Otranto on the 10th July, 1916, with small 
loss of personnel, but the fate which befell the 
Nembo was more tragic and more romantic. 
The Nembo was escorting a transport to Valona. 
The submarine was sighted on board the 
destroyer, whose commander at once changed 
course so as to cover his charge, which had 
some 3000 soldiers on board. He succeeded 
in doing this, and the torpedo intended for the 

117 



War in the Underseas 

transport struck the Nernbo with full force. 
She at once began to settle, but the indomit- 
able officer swung his ship round with the 
intention of ramming his assailant. Loss of 
speed and gain of water on the part of the 
destroyer gave the U-boat time to submerge, 
bat the commander still had another card to 
play. He ordered depth charges to be dropped 
overboard. There was a mammoth upheaval 
of water, followed by the reappearance of 
the enemy showing evident signs of distress. 
Shortly afterward destroyer and submarine 
went to a common grave, the Nembo carrying 
with her most of her gallant crew, while eleven 
men from U 16 managed to scramble into one 
of the destroyer's boats that floated by without 
a solitary occupant. 

Vienna newspapers, like those of Berlin, 
endeavoured to bolster up the naval cause 
of the Central Powers by deliberately manu- 
facturing desirable news. In January 1915 
the Austrians were told that their E 12 had 
sunk the French battleship Courbet, a Dread- 
nought armed with a dozen 12-in. guns. That 
was sufficiently wide of the mark in all con- 

118 



Tragedy hi the Middle Seas 

science, for it was absolutely untrue, but the 
loss of the Jean Bart by colliding with her 
when going to her assistance was tagged on 
to make the victory still more complete. E 12 
certainly did succeed in hitting the Jean Bart 
with a torpedo, but the material damage was 
of slight importance and was speedily repaired. 
At the time the Courbet was many miles 
away from the scene of the imaginary action — 
" in excellent trim," as the French Ministry 
of Marine stated. On another occasion the 
French battleship Verite was alleged to have 
been seriously damaged by a German sub- 
marine. 

This tale of disaster, terrible in the loss of 
great ships and greater men, is at the worst 
only a record of what is legitimate in modern 
naval warfare. Those who thought, like Nobel, 
that the more violent the agencies to be em- 
ployed in conflict the more likelihood of 
preserving peace had their fond delusions 
shattered in the saturnalia of the centuries. 
Likewise those who sow the wind often reap 
the whirlwind. 



119 



CHAPTER VI 

U or ton, E 9, and Others 

" If the submarine had succeeded our Army in France would 
have withered away." — D. Lloyd George. 

PREVIOUS pages have had much to 
say about U-boats. The northern mists, 
from the obscurity of which the Grand 
Fleet occasionally emerged into the broad sun- 
light of publicity, were as nothing compared 
with the fog of war which veiled the hourly 
activities of British and Allied submarines. 
Scouting is notoriously hazardous and neces- 
sarily private. Our underseas craft had suf- 
ficient of it. In the performance of this task 
they also tackled much other business, tracked 
and sent to the bottom vessels of their own 
species though not of their own tribe, wormed 
their way through waters sealed to surface 
ships, ferreted a course through strings of 
floating mines, dodged unanchored infernal 
machines, convoyed in safety hundreds of 
thousands of troops, and stalked men-of-war. 
They proved themselves friends to all but the 

120 



H or ton, R 9, and Others 

Ishmael of the seas ; and when opportunity 
served they snatched him from a watery grave 
when he ought to have perished. 

The first German warship to be sunk by a 
British submarine was the Hela. She fell to 
E 9 on the 13th September, 1914. Heaven 
knows it was not for lack of searching for 
legitimate prey that nothing had been secured 
by our underwater craft ere the second month 
of the war. Like Villeneuve's ships before 
Trafalgar, if any German vessels occasionally 
took an airing they also took good care to 
keep near home. The Hela, a light cruiser of 
2040 tons displacement, with a complement of 
178, of little consequence for fighting purposes 
because her heaviest guns were i5j-pdrs., was 
only six miles south of Heligoland when she 
was torpedoed by Lieutenant-Commander Max 
K. Horton. 

E 9, it may be well to note, had already 
won her spurs in the prelude to the battle of 
Heligoland Bight. Two torpedoes were fired, 
with an interval of fifteen seconds between. 
One hit. Greatly daring, about a quarter of 
an hour later Horton took just the suspicion of 

121 



War in the Under seas 

a glance in her direction through the periscope, 
and saw that she was heeling over to star- 
board. When he again ventured to use his 
1 eye ' there was no Hela, and a trawler had 
gone to the rescue of her crew. " What we 
are so proud about is that it is the first torpedo 
fired from a [British] submarine that made a 
hit," one of the crew wrote, " and it has been 
a great competition among all our boats to 
get first one in, and of course we consider 
ourselves ' the cock of the submarine flotilla ' 
now." 

A number of German torpedo-boats hunted 
for E 9 during several hours after the destruc- 
tion of the cruiser. Yet the following day 
saw her calmly at work examining the outer 
anchorage of the island fortress, " a service 
attended by considerable risk." An excep- 
tionally heavy westerly gale was blowing on 
the 14th and continued for a week. On a 
lee shore, with short, steep seas, the lot of the 
submarines in the Bight was both hazardous 
and unpleasant. " There was no rest to be 
obtained," says the Commodore, " and when 
cruising at a depth of sixty feet the submarines 

122 



H or ton, E 9, and Others 

were rolling considerably, and pumping — i.e. 
vertically moving about twenty feet." Officers 
and men were granted prize bounty amounting 
to £1050 for sinking the Hela, an exploit 
which the crew regarded as avenging the 
Pathfinder. 

Further insight into the hazardous life of 
those who operated in the Bight is afforded 
by the following extract from another official 
report : 

" When a submarine is submerged, her 
captain alone is able to see what is taking place. 
The success of the enterprise and the safety 
of the vessel depend on his skill and nerve 
and the prompt, precise execution of his orders 
by the officers and men under his command. 
Our submarines have been pioneers in waters 
that have been mined. They have been sub- 
jected to skilful and well-thought-out anti- 
submarine tactics by a highly trained and 
determined enemy, attacked by gunfire and 
torpedo, driven to lie at the bottom at a great 
depth to preserve battery power, hunted for 
hours at a time by hostile torpedo-craft, and 
at times forced to dive under our own warships 

123 



War in the Under seas 

to avoid interfering with their movements. 
Sudden alterations of course and depth, the 
swirl of propellers overhead and the con- 
cussion of bursting shells, give an indication to 
the crew of the risks to which they are being 
exposed, and it speaks well for the moral of 
these young officers and men, and their gallant 
faith in their captains, that they have invari- 
ably carried out their duties quietly, keenly, 
and confidently under conditions that might 
well have tried the hardened veteran." 

On the 6th of the succeeding month E 9 
was ' at it again.' She was patrolling off the 
estuary of the Ems, near the much-advertised 
island of Borkum, which boasted some of the 
most powerful guns ever mounted for coast 
defence. Presently the enemy's torpedo-boat 
S 126 came along, entirely unsuspecting. 1 

Horton was really after bigger game, but 
when out shooting pheasants one does not 
disdain a pigeon if nothing else is avail- 
able. He was keen on a battleship, and only 

1 We should call S 126 a destroyer, but the term is unknown 
in the German Navy. All vessels of the type are dubbed 
torpedo-boats, irrespective of size. 

124 



Horton, E 9, and Others 

a little while before had spotted a fair-sized 
cruiser, an excellent ' second best.' When 
enthusiasm was at its height, and triumph 
reasonably sure, circumstances compelled him 
to dive. We are not told what those circum- 
stances were. Perhaps we should not be far 
wrong if we ventured the opinion that they 
were intimately connected with the noisome 
presence of fleeter craft whose pet particular 
prey is the British submarine. When the 
officer had another opportunity to observe 
what was going on in the upper world, the 
larger ship had gone out of sight and a smaller 
vessel come into view. 

Within a hundred yards of E 9 was S 126, 
followed at some distance by a second T.B. 
Horton waited until the leader had travelled 
another 500 yards, ensuring a ' comfortable ' 
range, and then fired. The commander evi- 
dently believed in even numbers, for he 
discharged two ' rooties ' at his quarry, as 
he had done when attacking the Hela. It 
was just as well that he did, for one missed. 
The other struck the enemy amidships and 
worked deadly havoc. Coastguards on the 

125 



War in the Under seas 

Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog, opposite 
Borkum, and some seven miles from the scene, 
heard the roar of the explosion, and saw a 
great column of water shoot up near the 
forepart of the ship. In three minutes all 
that remained of S 126 was flotsam. She went 
down bow foremost, like a leaping salmon. 
As the stern rose her men took to the water. 
Most of them appear to have been rescued by 
a cruiser which came up a little later, but did 
not consider it advisable to make a long stay. 
■ ' Look at her ! " Horton cried. " The beggar's 
going down ! " as though it was the most sur- 
prising thing in the world for a ship to sink 
after having a 21-in. torpedo plugged in her 
side. 

The second torpedo-boat, unwilling to run 
the risk of sharing her consort's fate, made off, 
leaving the shipwrecked crew of thirty-six to 
fend for themselves. The lost vessel, launched 
in 1905, had a displacement of 420 tons, and 
carried three 6-pdr. guns and three torpedo- 
tubes. 

When E 9 swung into Harwich safe and 
sound the crews of destroyers and other craft 

126 




The Second Exploit of E 9 

When Ueutenant-Commander Max K. Horton toipedoed S 126 in 
the mouth of the Ems 

E. S. Hodgson 



126 



H 07^ ton, E 9, and Others 

based there knew that Horton and his gallant 
little band had scored another hit. No wireless 
conveyed the intelligence. She was displaying 
the White Ensign, plus two unofficial flags 
that are the pride and glory of the Submarine 
Squadron. These little bits of bunting, one 
yellow and the other white, bore the death's- 
head and cross-bones so intimately associated 
with the pirate of yester-year, and more appro- 
priate to the Huns. The former represented the 
' tuft ' of the Hela, the latter that of the latest 
victim. The officers and crew received further 
prize money to the tune of £350 for ' digging 
out ' S 126. Horton was awarded the D.S.O., 
and noted for early promotion. On the last 
day of 1914 he became Commander. 

The news was spread abroad by Germany 
that the action had taken place in Dutch 
territorial waters, within a mile of the shore. 
The Dutch Naval Staff promptly contradicted 
this report, pointing out that sands extend for 
two and a half miles from Schiermonnikoog, 
off which it was alleged E 9 had committed 
this grave misdeed. 

Horton's succeeding coup took place in the 
127 



War in the Ufiderseas 

Baltic, and rightly belongs to a later chapter. 
I introduce it here because it will better help 
us to appreciate his worth. 

Shortly after the Germans had occupied 
Libau, Russia's most southerly port in the 
Baltic, a certain mysterious submarine made 
her presence felt in the Mediterranean of the 
North. An official bulletin from Petrograd 
stated that the boat was British, and that she 
had sunk the pre-Dreadnought Pommern off 
Danzig on the 2nd July, 1915. The Censor in 
London removed the reference to the nation- 
ality of the submarine, but a little later it 
leaked out that E 9 had resumed operations 
and was responsible for the disaster. In reply 
to a question put by Commander Bellairs, Dr 
Macnamara answered that no official report 
had been transmitted to the Admiralty, " but 
from a semi-official communication received 
from the Russian Government it appears that 
the name of the officer referred to is Com- 
mander Max K. Horton, D.S.O.," which state- 
ment was received with enthusiastic cheers by 
the House of Commons. 

The Pommern was completed in 1907, and 
128 



Horton, E 9, and Others 
displaced 13,200 tons. She carried four 11-in. 
and fourteen 6.7-in. guns, and a crew of 
over seven hundred officers and men. The 
Pommern was the first German battleship to 
be sunk in the war. The coveted Order of 
St George (Fourth Class) was bestowed on the 
Commander by Tsar Nicholas. The German 
Government vigorously denied that a battleship 
had been lost, but 

All the King's horses and all the King's men 
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again, 

and all the contradictions in the world failed to 
resurrect the Pommern. 

The energetic E boats did not remain in 
obscurity very long. In the following month 
the enemy endeavoured to secure naval control 
of the Gulf of Riga. Their first attempt, 
made on the 8th August with nine battle- 
ships, twelve cruisers, and a brave showing of 
torpedo-boats, was a complete failure. It was 
followed up eight days later by a more am- 
bitious force. Favoured by heavy sea fog, the 
enemy cleared a channel through the mines 
and net defences at the entrance within forty- 
1 129 



War in the Under seas 

eight hours, and were then ready to pene- 
trate farther. If we accept the assertion of 
the Russians, the Germans paid dearly for 
their adventure. Against their own losses of 
two gunboats and several torpedo craft they 
assessed those of the Germans at two cruisers, 
and eight torpedo-boats either sunk or badly 
damaged. In addition, the Moltke, a battle- 
cruiser, was torpedoed by E i. She was not 
mortally wounded, and was towed back to har- 
bour, where she remained until Beatty claimed 
her. The Huns gained nothing and lost much 
in this attempt to dominate the Gulf. 

On the 19th August, 19 16, Lieut. -Com- 
mander Robert R. Turner of E 23 attacked 
an enemy battleship. The vessel, a member 
of the Nassau family, the first type of Dread- 
nought to be built in a German yard, was 
powerfully armed with twelve n-in., twelve 
5.9-in., and sixteen 21-pdr. guns, in addi- 
tion to half a dozen submerged torpedo-tubes. 
The displacement was 18,600 tons, and the 
speed 19-20 knots, but experts held that the 
class was a failure when compared with our 
own earlier Dreadnoughts. 

130 



H or ton, E 9, and Others 

The first torpedo fired by E 23 badly 
damaged the battleship. Of that there is 
not the slightest doubt. Five destroyers im- 
mediately went to her assistance. While these 
were engaged in escorting her, a second tor- 
pedo hit the target, and the officer in command 
of the submarine reported that he " believed 
she was sunk." Then began a war of con- 
tradiction. The Germans stated that one 
of their submarines had attacked a British 
destroyer and a cruiser, both of which went 
down shortly afterward. They admitted that 
the submarine was rammed, but added the 
rider that she had returned to harbour ' badly 
damaged.' The question of the loss of a 
second U-boat was carefully hedged. "The 
statement can only be verified when all reports 
from our submarines are to hand" — an in- 
genious ruse. The report anent British losses 
was without foundation. 

As in the above case, it is not always possible 
to ascertain the result of a shot. Many other 
instances of likely losses could be cited. A 
British submarine saw four battleships of 
the Kaiser class off the Danish coast. After 

131 



War in the Under seas 

making all ready to attack, the boat broke 
surface of her own accord owing to the ex- 
ceedingly heavy swell. This terrible risk was 
run quite accidentally, but she got under 
again. Four torpedoes were discharged at a 
range of 4000 yards at the third ship in the 
line. Two explosions proved that the weapons 
had performed their tasks, and the commander 
was of opinion that the third and fourth ships 
had both been hit. He was about to verify 
his belief when a destroyer was heard racing 
in his direction, followed by others. For two 
hours they patrolled in search of the boat that 
had shot this 'bolt from the blue.' They failed 
to find her. Two depth charges nearly did, 
but not quite, and a sweep dragged ominously 
over her hull. Puzzle : Did the battleships 
founder ? The Marineamt in Berlin knows but 
does not say. In fifty-one months of conflict 
British submarines successfully attacked forty- 
three enemy warships. 

A British submarine, referred to in a Dutch 
official communication as C 55, was patrolling 
in the North Sea on the 27th July, 1917, when 
she picked up a German steamer. This was 

132 



Horton, E 9, and Others 

the Batavier II, of 1328 tons net, proceeding 
in the direction of Hamburg. The North Sea, 
or ' German Ocean ' as those who dwell on 
its eastern fringe fondly call it, had not been 
darkened by a mercantile ship of that nation- 
ality for many long months, and even the 
Batavier II was British-built and had been 
captured from the Dutch. The submarine 
overhauled her, and after having sustained 
damage by gunfire, she was captured, her crew 
escaping in their boats. A prize crew took 
possession of the vessel and endeavoured to 
bring her to port. The idea had to be aban- 
doned because she made so much water. The 
opening of her sea-cocks speedily sent her 
beneath the waves. Twenty-eight survivors of 
the steamer's crew were subsequently landed 
at Texel. 

According to the Dutch Navy Department, 
the steamer was towing the motor-ship Zee- 
meeuw at the time, and at the opening of the 
engagement both vessels were outside terri- 
torial waters. When they were abandoned 
they had again entered the three-mile limit. 
The prize crew succeeded in getting the 

133 



War in the Under seas 

Batavier II outside, but owing to her dis- 
ability and a strong current she again drifted 
within the Dutch sphere of influence. A Dutch 
torpedo-boat then hoisted the signal " Respect 
neutrality," and the submarine retired. The 
Zeemeeuw was taken in tow and conducted to 
Nieuwediep. 

Less than a month later the Renate Leonhardt, 
another German steamer, attempted to run 
the blockade. Instead she ran ashore near 
the Helder, and after being refloated was met 
on the high seas by a British submarine, which 
made short work of her. The crew were 
picked up and taken to Holland. 

Let me close this chapter with a contrast. 
Fiendish brutality characterized the behav- 
iour of most German U-boat commanders. It 
mattered not whether the ship attacked was 
sailing under the colours of the Allies or of 
neutrals. To them war was a biological necessity, 
a phase in the development of life, to be waged 
relentlessly and vitriolic ally. The more cruel 
the method, the shorter the conflict. That was 
the Prussian theory, and the Great Conflict 
proved it false. To the German the neutral 

134 



H or ton, R 9, and Others 

country was only neutral when it was working 
for the Fatherland. Often enough, even in 
these circumstances, he preferred to regard it 
as an open enemy. The lanes of the ocean are 
strewn with the wrecks of neutral craft and 
dead men assassinated by "our sea- warriors " 
in their hideous attempt at world-conquest. 
I quote a report received from the commander 
of a British submarine. The statements are 
corroborated by the neutrals of the world : 

" On the morning of March 14 [1917] His 
Majesty's submarine E — , when proceeding on 
the surface in the North Sea, sighted two 
suspicious craft ahead. On approaching them, 
however, she found them to be ship's boats 
sailing south, and containing some thirty 
members of the crew of the Dutch steamship 
L. M. Casteig, which had been torpedoed and 
sunk by a German submarine some distance 
to the northward over twenty-four hours 
previously. 

" After ascertaining that there was both 
food and water in the boats, E — took them in 
tow at once, and proceeded toward the Dutch 
coast at the greatest possible speed consistent 

i35 



War in the Underseas 

with safety, in view of the state of the weather. 
Some four hours later the Norwegian steamship 
Norden was sighted, and as she showed some 
natural reluctance about approaching the sub- 
marine, not knowing that it was a British one, 
the boats containing the Dutch crew cast off 
the tow and pulled toward her. E — kept 
the boats in sight until they were seen to have 
been picked up by the Norden, and then 
proceeded on the course which had been 
interrupted for this act of mercy." 

Mercy as a biological necessity of war ! It 
is a suggestive thought, of British origin. It 
compares favourably with the treatment of 
forty of the crew of the s.s. Belgian Prince, 
who were lined up on U 44 and drowned as 
the submersible plunged. About a fortnight 
later Paul Wagenfiihr, the instigator of this 
diabolical outrage, was drowned with his con- 
federates. U 44 was their coffin. 



136 



CHAPTER VII 

Submarine v. Submarine 

"Grapple your minds to stemage of this navy." 

Shakespeare 

AT the beginning of the war it was 
freely stated that the one ship a 
submarine could not fight was the 
submarine. This theory, like so many others, 
went by the board in the process of time. 
Finally the notion was completely reversed. 
Allied underwater craft ferreted out many an 
enemy submersible. Indeed, if we accept the 
authority of Rear-Admiral S. S. Robison, of 
the United States Navy, they did "more 
than any other class of vessel" to defeat the 
U-boats. 

The French and Italians name the units of 
their underseas navy. They are not vague, 
impersonal things denoted by a letter and a 
number, after the fashion of an inhabitant of 
Portland Prison. The first recorded action 
between submarines took place in June 1915. 
It remains one of the mysteries of the war. 

*37 



War in the Under seas 

The Italian submarine Medusa, after carrying 
out several daring reconnaissances, was tor- 
pedoed by an Austrian submersible of almost 
similar type and size. The Medusa was quite 
a small boat, built at Spezzia in 191 1, with a 
displacement of 241 tons on the surface and 
295 tons below water. Her crew numbered 
seventeen. She was scouting in the Adriatic 
when the incident occurred, and we must 
presume her to have been comparatively close 
to the enemy without being aware of the 
fact, otherwise her action is unaccountable. 
For some reason or other she came to the 
surface, whereupon the commander of the 
Austrian U-boat sighted her through his peri- 
scope and torpedoed her. An officer and four 
men were picked up. According to a later 
report, divers were sent down to examine the 
condition of the Medusa with a view to salvage 
operations. They made the startling discovery 
that the wreck of an Austrian submersible 
was lying close to that of the Italian, suggesting 
that the two vessels had participated in a duel 
in which both had got a fatal shot home and 
neither was the victor. 

138 



Submarine v. Submarine 

In August of the same year an Italian 
destroyer was escorting a submarine, when 
the commander of the former became aware 
that his ship was the object of attention on 
the part of an Austrian U-boat. He could see 
the periscope just sticking out of the water. 
Judging by her movements the enemy was 
manoeuvring for a favourable position from 
which to strike. The destroyer sought to 
cover her charge, and did so. At the same 
time the submarine took advantage of the pro- 
tection thus afforded, and played the same 
game as her rival. Everything being ready 
for the projected attack, the destroyer changed 
course so as to give her consort an unlimited 
field for operations. The Austrian opened fire 
from one of her bow tubes, and scored a 
miss. The Italian, not satisfied with the 
target presented, made no reply. Both tried 
to out-manceuvre the other, and admirably 
succeeded for an hour and a half. It was the 
most skilful game of ' touch ' ever played. At 
last the Italian secured a slight advantage and 
fired. Almost at the same moment her ad- 
versary did the same, but whereas the Italian 

i39 



War in the Under seas 

escaped without a scratch, the Austrian re- 
ceived the full force of the blow amidships. 
Not a man of the crew of U 12 survived, 
though the destroyer reached the spot shortly 
after the submersible had disappeared. 

On one of those evenings which the tourist 
in Venice calls perfect because the sea and sky 
seem to have less imperfection in them than 
most things deemed of the earth earthy, the 
commander of an Italian submarine was taking 
a look round. A wilderness of blue water, 
calm as the proverbial millpond, had met his 
gaze all day, and was becoming tedious. Per- 
fection depends so much on the point of view. 
To him the sea which pleases and fascinates 
the traveller was a medium for work, and 
had become the abomination of desolation by 
reason of enforced inaction. He had almost 
completed the circle of his observations when 
a blot representing something maritime ap- 
peared squatting on the waters. He held on 
his course, his eyes strained on the far-away 
object. As the submarine and ' it ' grew 
nearer, ' it ' assumed definite shape. A sub- 
mersible of Austrian origin without doubt, 

140 



Submarine v. Submarine 
lying on the surface as listless as a dead 
whale. At first men were busy on the deck, 
then they disappeared one by one down the 
hatches until there was not a living soul 
visible. Apparently the Italian boat had not 
been seen. By great good fortune it might 
escape observation if the enemy did not bring 
his periscopes into early service. 

The Italian broke surface, stealthily ap- 
proached, found the range. There must be 
no mistake, no ' giving the show away,' and 
likewise no hesitation. She was discovered 
nevertheless, though not through lack of 
caution on the commander's part. One of 
the enemy's ' eyes ' moved in her direction, 
revealing its owner's dire peril, and at the 
same time making the Italian's task more 
risky. At the moment the Austrian was 
broadside on — a lovely target. Slowly the 
Austrian began to turn so as to bring her 
torpedo-tubes to bear on her rival. A few 
more seconds would have sufficed, but the 
Italian officer got his blow in first. It literally 
disembowelled his enemy, and she sank like 
a stone. 

141 



War in the Under seas 

Ramming submarines was formerly regarded 
as the special prerogative of surface vessels. 
Submersibles were certainly more inclined to 
fight duels by other means, but several in- 
stances could be cited of British commanders 
who did not hesitate to turn and rend an 
enemy without so much as a shot or a torpedo 
being fired. A British submarine was patrol- 
ling her beat in the North Sea. Suddenly 
her commander caught sight of a couple of 
periscopes that had no right to be there. He 
tackled the U-boat, ramming the nose of his 
vessel so far into her side that he could 
not back it out again. It was a horrible pre- 
dicament for both of them. Thanks to the 
German's effort the British submarine got 
clear. By pumping out the ballast tanks 
the U-boat managed to rise to the surface, 
bringing her assailant with her. The wounded 
vessel slowly drew away, making water rapidly. 
Already the bow was submerged, and she be- 
trayed an unhealthy list to starboard. Less 
than two minutes later the stricken pirate 
gave a lurch and disappeared. 

On another occasion a British submarine 
142 



Submarine v. Submarine 

and a German U-boat sought to come to grips 
for nearly half an hour. As soon as one had 
taken up a position the other dodged. At last 
the British commander ventured a torpedo. It 
missed by a few feet. Again the game of hide- 
and-seek began with renewed zest. It went 
on for exactly eight minutes, when another 
torpedo went speeding through the water 
in the direction of the U-boat. There was a 
terrific noise as the weapon struck the enemy's 
stern, which rose completely out of the water 
with, judging by the smoke, one or more of 
the aft compartments on fire. Another U-boat 
had finished her career. She rose almost as 
straight as a church steeple, then slid under. 

One of our submarines chased a U-boat for 
nearly two hours before she finally sent her 
quarry to the bottom. When the commander 
first became aware of the enemy's presence 
the latter was making ready for a cruise on 
the surface. She was then too far away to 
warrant a shot, and consequently there was 
every likelihood that the German would escape 
unless swift measures were taken for dealing 
with her. The British officer dogged the 

143 



War in the Under seas 

U-boat with grim determination, then struck 
a patch of shallow water. If he could safely 
navigate this he knew that the other's ' number 
was up ' ; if he avoided it by taking a cir- 
cuitous route he was equally confident that 
the enemy would escape. He took the risk, 
bumping the bottom heavily several times, 
and stealthily approached to a distance of 
550 yards. Two torpedoes were fired simul- 
taneously. From his place of safety, several 
fathoms below, the commander heard them 
explode. When he took a peep no submersible 
was visible, though the water was bubbling 
where she had floated a few minutes before. 

Some of the commanders of British sub- 
marines are exceedingly cryptic in their reports. 
They give the barest information and the 
fewest possible details. Here is one in its 
brief entirety : 

10.30 a.m. — Sighted enemy submarine, so dived and 
altered course. 
10.47 a.m. — Enemy picked up in periscope. 
10.50 a.m. — Again altered course. 

10.52 a.m. — Stern tube torpedo fired. 

10.53 a.m. — Sharp explosion heard. 

1 1. 10 a.m. — Came to surface and^~ sighted oil right 
144 



Submarine v. Submarine 

ahead, with three men swimming in it. Two were 
picked up, but the third sank before we could reach 
him. Dived. Survivors stated that submarine U — was 
hit in a full tank just before conning-tower and sank 
very rapidly by the head, rolling over at the same time. 

Here is a chapter of thrilling heroism told 
in less than fifty words : 

io a.m. — Sighted hostile submarine. Attacked same. 

10.3 a.m. — Torpedoed submarine. Hit with one tor- 
pedo amidships. Submarine seen to blow up and 
disappear. Surface to look for survivors. Put down 
immediately by destroyers, who fired at me. 

Had the periscope been in good health — it 
was suffering from a stiff neck that took three 
men to move — the commander might have 
bagged one or two of the destroyers in addition 
to the submarine. As it was he dared not 
risk the operation, particularly as he knew 
that the surface craft would be scouring the 
sea in every direction and dropping pills all 
round him. He put a distance of four miles 
between himself and the scene of his prowess, 
then awaited events. Depth charges were used 
in great profusion. He lay at the bottom 
and heeded them not, though the noise of 
discharge was heard right enough. For hours 

k 145 



War in the Under seas 

he listened to vessels passing above, and once 
a wire sweep scraped along the port side with 
an ominous grating. It was not particularly 
inviting waiting for something to happen, but 
the commander had the satisfaction of knowing 
that he had scored a victory over his rival. 
Through the ill-behaved periscope he had 
seen a torpedo take effect forward of the 
conning-tower, send up a tall column of water 
and yellow smoke, and had watched the U-boat 
disappear. 

While returning home after an arduous 
cruise, a British submarine, travelling on the 
surface, came across a U-boat prowling about 
for merchantmen. She also was unsubmerged, 
and apparently so engrossed in searching the 
horizon for fat cargoes that the patrol was 
not noticed. The Britisher went under, took 
careful aim, fired a couple of torpedoes, and 
waited. The weapons took effect. After the 
German had disappeared, the submarine came 
up and searched for possible survivors. One 
was bobbing up and down in the water. He 
was the captain of the U-boat. 

The Nereide, an Italian submarine of 297 tons, 
146 



Submarine v. Submarine 

was unloading supplies for the garrison at 
Pelagosa when an Austrian U-boat suddenly 
appeared. Although the commander of the 
Nereide made instant preparation to meet the 
enemy he had insufficient time at his disposal. 
Two torpedoes struck the boat and she went 
down with her crew. 

Another of these unusual encounters occurred 
on the 19th June, 1917, when the French 
submarine Ariane was sunk by a U-boat in 
the Mediterranean. The vessel carried a crew 
of about thirty, of whom nine were saved. 

I began this chapter by quoting a remark 
of Rear- Admiral Robison. I will end it with 
another anent Britain's stalking submarines, 
whose duty he regarded as the most hazardous 
occupation of the war. He stated that at 
Harwich, in June 1918, "there was a record of 
twenty-five submarines which had gone out of 
port and had not come back." 



147 



CHAPTER VIII 

A Chapter of Accidents 

" In the future as in the past, the German people will 
have to seek firm cohesion in its glorious Army and in its 
belaurelled young Fleet." — Lt.-Gen. Baron von Freytag- 

LORINGHOVEN. 

ALL kinds of queer accidents happen 
to submarines. It was one thing to 
have a ' joy-ride ' standing on the 
conning-tower of a spick-and-span craft in the 
neighbourhood of Haslar, and quite another 
to be compelled to lie ' doggo ' hundreds of 
miles from the base owing to the near presence 
of German torpedo-boats out for slaughter. 
The following story has been told before, but 
may be thought worthy of repetition because 
it reveals the calm philosophy which is the 
submarine man's sheet-anchor. Without it he 
would speedily be reduced to nothing more 
than a nervous wreck. 

A British submarine, intent on business 
intimately connected with the enemy, broke 
surface at an awkward moment. A shell 

148 



A Chapter of Accidents 

whizzed close enough to assure the commander 
that somebody was on the watch for the Paul 
Prys of the British Navy. She went under, 
and after lying quiet for four hours again 
ascended for the purpose of finding out things. 
She discovered them all right, although they 
were not exactly of the kind she sought. One 
of the shots made a hole that necessitated 
a certain amount of plugging in double-quick 
time. The submarine submerged until after 
dark, then made off to report. " What did 
you do while you were at the bottom ? " an 
inquisitive friend asked the commander as he 
was stretching his legs on the quay and form- 
ing a miniature smoke screen with whiffs of 
Navy Cut. " I did fine," was the answer ; "we 
played auction bridge all the time, and I made 
4s. nid." 

The officers and crew of a French submarine 
had a much more exciting experience while 
engaged on similar duty in the early days 
of the war. They were proceeding cautiously 
toward the entrance of an enemy harbour. 
The periscope showed a delightful bag, but 
unfortunately the battleships that constituted 

149 



War in the Underseas 

it were protected by nets sufficiently sub- 
stantial to make poaching impossible. There 
was no sign of movement other than in 
the smoke issuing languidly from the funnels. 
While the commander was taking observations, 
the ships began to show signs of life, and, 
with a number of torpedo-boats, denoted by 
their actions that they had every intention of 
weighing anchor. Here was an opportunity in 
a thousand, an unexpected one too, and the 
French officer seized it with avidity. As the 
enemy approached, he decided to go ahead a 
short distance so as to make assurance doubly 
sure. He wanted his aim to be absolutely 
certain. The submarine had not proceeded 
more than a few yards when there was a 
nasty jar. The rudder had become fixed as in 
a vice. It was caught so tightly in a steel 
cable that the boat could not budge an inch. 
The crews of the T.B.s knew exactly what 
had happened, though how they came by the 
knowledge remains their secret. The vessels 
raced to the spot, hoping that the submarine 
was sufficiently near the surface to be rammed. 
Providentially she was not, though her crew 

150 



A Chapter of Accidents 

heard the thrashing of the screws as they 
passed perilously close to her carcase. Im- 
mediately they had gone a furious hail of shells 
ploughed the sea, and one or two torpedoes were 
discharged by the enemy on the off chance that 
they might hit the intruder. It was a hot 
spot, despite the cold water. One who was 
on board says it was a miracle they were 
not struck. " We thought we were done for," 
he adds, " and we patiently awaited the ex- 
plosion which would deliver us from the cruel 
suspense." 

Meanwhile something had to be done, and 
quickly. Death by being blown to pieces 
is infinitely preferable to suffocation. The 
one is speedy and certain ; the other slow and 
agonizing. The water tanks were filled until 
they could hold no more. It was hoped 
that the added weight would force the craft 
down and snap the cable. Nothing happened. 
Then some one suggested that if the steering- 
wheel were compelled to move, possibly the 
wire would snap. If it failed to do so, and 
merely smashed the rudder, it could scarcely 
add to their anxieties. A doomed ship 

151 



War in the Under seas 

might as well be without steering gear as 
otherwise. 

Half a dozen men exerted their full strength 
on the spokes. The wheel remained rigid for 
one, two, three seconds, then spun round with 
a sudden jerk that was not good for the 
equilibrium of the sailors but entirely satis- 
factory from every other point of view. The 
submarine went down several fathoms before 
she was brought under control. 

The commander thought it was time to 
make tracks for a healthier clime without 
further spying. Risks are to be run only 
when necessary. Some hours later he ventured 
to use his periscope, only to find that an enemy 
vessel was no great distance off, evidently on 
the watch for such as he. The craft reached 
her base somewhat overdue. " All's well that 
ends well," but there is often a painful interim. 

Explosions in underwater boats are not 
frequent, though they have occurred. Several 
men were either killed or injured in a disaster 
of this nature in a U.S. submarine cruising off 
Cavite, in the Philippines. The ' blow ' was 
due to gasoline fumes, but the cause of ignition 

152 



A Chapter of Accidents 

is unknown. U.S. submarine E 2 also sank as 
the result of a similar mishap in the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard in January 1916. 

Spain, a neutral country, was treated by 
the Germans as though she were an admitted 
combatant on the side of the Allies. Yet 
after torpedoing Spanish ships and leaving 
their crews to look after themselves as best 
they could, U-boat commanders were very 
thankful to take shelter in her ports on more 
than one occasion, despite the risk of in- 
ternment. Here is a typical case. A French 
seaplane caught sight of U 56 while on the 
prowl in the Mediterranean, dropped what 
bombs she possessed on the shadowy target, 
and proceeded on her way. She could do 
no more. U 56 found herself in difficulties. 
Damage had been done to the diving gear. 
The second officer was for ' risking it ' and 
making an attempt to reach home. The com- 
mander thought otherwise, and as he had the 
casting vote in this as in other matters, the 
submarine limped into Santander. Kissvetter, 
the officer in question, after seeing that his 
ship was safely berthed, lined up his crew and 

i53 



War in the Under seas 

marched them to the naval headquarters of 
the port. On giving his parole, he indulged 
in a lively chat with the officer in charge, 
during the course of which he was good enough 
to volunteer the information that the British 
bluejackets who had taken part in the raids 
on Zeebrugge and Ostend x had displayed great 
valour. 

Another French aeroplane distinguished 
itself in a similar manner off the Moroccan 
coast. It succeeded in so badly damaging 
U 39 that the submarine could not reach 
Cartagena unassisted. There was an ugly dent 
in her bow, the upper structure was damaged, 
and part of the machinery put out of com- 
mission. Although his craft had sustained 
these injuries, the commander found no diffi- 
culty in submerging, which proves that the 
more modern U-boat was not so easily defeated 
as some people imagined. Presumably the sub- 
marine waited until another of her tribe was 
due to come along, possibly at dusk, and 
then made her presence known. At any rate, 
a sister boat towed her within easy distance of 

1 See post, p. 297. 
154 



i 




■5 * 



M I > 



W 



ft* 



A Chapter of Accidents 

Cartagena Harbour, cast off, and disappeared. 
In response to signals of distress, a tug took 
the battered submersible in charge and berthed 
her alongside a Spanish cruiser. Commander 
Metzger, wearing the Iron Cross, was taken 
with his crew of forty men to Madrid and 
interned. 

Fog is usually accepted as one of the plagues 
of the sea, but on occasion it proved an 
excellent friend to the enemy when British 
patrol craft were hot on the scent. This was 
not the case, however, with a small German 
submarine which went ashore near Helle- 
voetsluis in perfectly clear weather. The officer 
seems to have lost his bearings completely. 
After spending several fruitless hours hoping 
that the incoming tide would refloat his ship, 
the crew of fifteen men were compelled to 
abandon her. 

Their action was certainly less desperate 
than the means adopted by the officers and 
men of a German mine-laying submarine which 
grounded on the French coast to the west of 
Calais. She ' touched bottom ' at high tide, 
the worst possible time to choose for such a 

i55 



War in the Under seas 

performance, and remained as immovable as 
a rock. At daybreak the coastguards saw the 
boat lying like a stranded whale, and promptly 
secured her. The officers and men offered no 
resistance. They had made their plans when 
they realized that the ' game was up.' By 
flooding the submarine with inflammable oil 
and applying a match they effectively prevented 
the boat from passing into the service of the 
French Navy. 

Occasionally the hunter got more than he 
bargained for and was ' hoist with his own 
petard.' The pirate commander of a U-boat 
was congratulating himself on having disposed 
of a British steamer with the minimum of 
trouble, when the victim blew up. He had 
attacked a vessel loaded with ammunition 
without knowing what was in her hold, and 
at comparatively short range. The explosion 
was so violent that it upset the stability of 
the submersible, and did so much damage 
in other ways that for a time it was believed 
she would founder. She was a sorry spectacle 
when the cliffs and frowning guns of Heligoland 
were sighted through the periscope. 

!56 



A Chapter of Accidents 

In the early days of submarines their con- 
stitution could only be described as delicate. 
At each stage of progress the craft has taken 
on strength, until it has now anything but a 
fragile frame. That was one of the reasons why 
the British Admiralty was chary of issuing 
definite statements as to U-boat losses. Oil 
rising to the surface might be a sign that a sub- 
marine had been wounded, but was no definite 
guarantee that the patient would bleed to death. 
U-boats had a little trick of letting out oil 
when attacked in the hope that it would deceive 
the enemy. Take the case of a certain British 
submarine which had the very undesirable 
misfortune to barge into a German mine. 
These submerged canisters were filled with a 
heavy charge of trotyl. You will better ap- 
preciate what this means when I add that 
T.N.T. has a bursting force when confined of 
128,000 lb. per square inch. Yet this British- 
built ship is still afloat, and her crew alive 
to tell the tale. Vessel and men owed their 
escape from death to a mighty good bulk- 
head. She struck the mine bow on. Bulk- 
heads 1 and 2 were burst open ; her two fore 

157 



War in the Underseas 

torpedo-tubes, both loaded, were so twisted 
and jammed that they were rendered useless ; 
the glass of the dials of the various recording 
instruments was scattered in all directions ; 
every member of the crew was knocked flat, 
and the vessel sent to the bottom, nose fore- 
most. A landsman would have said it was 
the end of all things ; the men most concerned 
merely admitted that it was ' a nasty jar.' 

When they had regained their feet the crew 
went back to their allotted stations to await 
orders. There was no need for them to puzzle 
why their craft was in this predicament. 
Neither a sunken wreck nor a submerged rock 
goes off with a bang. Meanwhile, there were 
some nasty leaks to divert the mind. They 
would be attended to later, when orders had 
been given. Discipline, like explosive, is a 
mighty force. 

The commander picked himself up, carefully 
brushed his uniform with his hands, and went to 
his post. " Let all things be done decently and 
in order " is the acknowledged, if unwritten, 
motto of British submarines. The officer's 
action was the outward and visible sign that 

158 



A Chapter of Accidents 

he had not forgotten it. He gave instructions 
for the pumps to be set in motion — if they were 
capable of movement. Everything depended 
on the answer. There were moments of tense 
anxiety before it came. No one, even the 
bravest of the brave, likes to be drowned like 
a rat in a trap. The motors were going. They 
had not stopped. But the pumps ? 

They started ! With the beating of their 
pulse hope flowed in where before it had been 
on the ebb. The submarine came to the 
surface as game as ever, though terribly 
bruised. If " God tempers the wind to 
the shorn lamb," a kindly Providence most 
assuredly watched over this craft. In enemy 
waters, three hundred odd miles from home, 
with a broken nose and internal injuries, she 
had not too much strength for the journey. 
She accomplished it satisfactorily enough, and 
was back again in her old haunts within a few 
weeks. 

There is a particularly poignant note of 
tragedy in a strange mishap that befell another 
British submarine. The why and the where- 
fore of the accident have now been revealed. 

i59 



War in the Underseas 

She was on her trials, and the ventilating 
shafts had been left open, flooding the rear 
compartments and drowning thirty-one men. 
She took an unexpected plunge of thirty- 
eight feet, stuck fast in the mud, and posi- 
tively refused to budge. She lay like a dead 
thing. Every conceivable means of resur- 
rection was tried ; each failed. One has read 
of wonderful life-saving devices that are sup- 
posed to be donned by submarine men when 
their boat is in difficulties. They look like 
smoke-helmets. All that is required is to don 
one of these affairs, enter the conning-tower, 
open the lid, and pop up like a cork. It 
sounds simple, even entertaining, and might be 
introduced as a side show at an exhibition 
as a change from the Flip-Flap . Whatever 
other submarines may have of this kind, this 
particular boat either did not possess or could 
not use. 

Officers and crew watched the hands of the 
clock complete the circle several times. There 
was little else to do. One does not talk much 
when waiting for eternity. Each felt that he 
was a doomed man, that ere long his wife 

160 



A Chapter of Accidents 
would be a widow and his children fatherless. 
There was ' a war on,' but was this war ? No 
enemy had done this, unless Destiny be an 
enemy. The forty-two men who still lived 
were within a comparatively short distance of 
the Scottish shore. 

A terrible way out suggested itself to 
Commander Francis Herbert Heaveningham 
Goodhart. It is a formidable name to re- 
member in its lengthy entirety, but one to 
make a note of. No future Book of Sea 
Heroes will omit it and be reasonably complete. 
The surname, although it is without an ' e,' 
fitted the man and the deed. He already had 
the D.S.O. to his credit ; his next award, the 
Albert Medal in gold, was posthumous. Now 
you know the tragedy of the story. The story 
of the tragedy remains to be told. 

Goodhart's " terrible way out " was this. 
The conning-tower of a submarine may be 
cut off from the boat by a trap-door. He 
proposed that a tin cylinder with a message 
giving full particulars of the position of the 
craft, the approximate length of time the men 
could hold out, and other details should be 
l 161 



War in the Underseas 

given to him, and that he should be blown up 
with it through the conning-tower. To effect 
this it was necessary to partly fill the chamber 
with water, turn on the high-pressure air, and 
release the clips that secured the lid. Placing 
the little cylinder in his belt, Goodhart set 
out on his last desperate adventure. Together 
with the commanding officer, who was to 
open and close the hatch, he stepped into 
the conning-tower. " If I don't get .up, the 
tin cylinder will," he remarked quite casually 
to his colleague. 

Water was admitted, then air. The lid fell 
back, and Goodhart made his escape. At this 
point Destiny, the unknown and the unknow- 
able, intervened. It reversed the order of 
affairs that man had so carefully planned. 
Goodhart was flung back against the structure 
and killed outright. At the same moment the 
officer who was to retire into the submarine 
was shot upward and reached the surface. 
According to the official account in the Lon- 
don Gazette , " Commander Goodhart displayed 
extreme and heroic daring, and thoroughly 
realized the forlorn nature of his act." This 

162 



A Chapter of Accidents 

does not go quite far enough. Had it not been 
for the dead man's attempt the instructions 
which were of such vital consequence to the 
imprisoned men would never have reached the 
rescuers. In due course fresh air, food, and 
water were sent to those below by methods 
private to the printed page. That night the 
survivors slept on shore as a slight compensa- 
tion for their long and awful vigil. 

In October 19 16 the Danish submarine 
Dykkeren met with a somewhat similar mishap, 
although the cause of her sudden disappear- 
ance was a collision with a Norwegian steamer 
in the Sound. Divers entrusted with the 
salvage operations hammered messages of good 
cheer in the Morse code on the side of the 
sunken boat, to which the prisoners promptly 
responded. The commander alone lost his life. 
He was found dead in the conning-tower. 

The pirate chiefs of Germany did not have 
it all their own way even when the absence of 
Allied patrol vessels, mines, and anti-submarine 
nets rendered existence a little less worrying 
than was usually the case with these pariahs of 
the deep. Lieutenant-Commander Schneider, 

163 



War in the Under seas 

who had won renown in the Fatherland as 
an instrument of the ' Blockade,' was swept 
overboard from his conning-tower while his 
craft was travelling awash. When his body 
was recovered life was extinct. It was con- 
signed to the deep, whither the Commander 
had sent many another during his career as a 
pirate. Some men from a U-boat in the Baltic 
were investigating the papers of a schooner, 
when a German cruiser put in an appearance. 
Being uncertain whether the submarine was a 
foreigner or not, as no colours were displayed, 
the man-of-war ventured too close, and crashed 
into the bow of the stationary vessel. Both 
U-boat and cruiser were compelled to retire 
for repairs. Off Norway a German submarine 
mistook another of her own nationality for a 
British representative of the underseas and 
promptly torpedoed her. 



164 



CHAPTER IX 

Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

" The present submarine difficulty is the result of our un- 
disputed supremacy upon the sea surface. The whole ingenuity, 
building power, and resource of Germany are devoted to sub- 
marine methods, because they cannot otherwise seriously damage 
us." — Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. 

THEY call them ' blimps ' in the Navy. 
The term conveys to the lands- 
man about as much information as 
' Blighty ' to a Chinaman. Blimps are speedy 
little airships driven by a single propeller, with 
a gondola capable of holding two or three 
men and a supply of munitions of war. These 
miniature Zeppelins are handy little craft not 
given to high flying and acrobatic feats, 
therefore less interesting to the general public 
than aeroplanes, though not less useful to the 
commonwealth. They were the guardian angels 
of the Merchant Service in the war. As such 
they played an important part in combating 
the submarine evil. These tractor balloons, 
with envelopes conforming to the shape of a 
fish, can hover over a suspected spot for hours 

165 



War in the Underseas 

at a time, which a seaplane cannot do. On 
the other hand, they are useless for raiding 
purposes on account of their vulnerability. 
Blimps are submarine spotters, and frequently 
submarine sinkers. 

From the height at which it is accustomed 
to travel, the blimp, given fair weather con- 
ditions, is able to see the shadowy form of a 
1 dip chick ' when not so much as her periscope 
is showing, and it can cover a fairly wide area 
of observation. If you stand on the bank of 
a broad and deep brook you will not be able to 
see so far into the water as if you were standing 
on a bridge that spans it and leaning over 
the parapet. That is why a gull looks for its 
food above the sea, and having glimpsed a 
toothsome, or rather beaksome, morsel, dives 
after it. This is also the secret of the spotter's 
sight. Many a German and Austrian U-boat 
disappeared in a welter of oil and bubbles by 
reason of the fact. 

It was during Lord Jellicoe's term of office 
as First Sea Lord that increasing attention 
was paid to aircraft as an ally of the Senior 
Service. At the same time it is only fair to 

166 



Sea-hawk and Sword-jish 

mention that when the British Expeditionary 
Force crossed to France in 19 14, aircraft 
patrolled the marches of the sea between the 
French, Belgian, and English coasts. 

The Navy and the Army have their own 
schemes of warfare, but in one particular plan 
of operations there is marked similarity. Just 
as the land is divided into sectors for 
fighting purposes, so the sea is divided into 
sections for the purpose of patrol. Destroyers 
and hydroplanes, auxiliaries and trawlers, air- 
ships and sraplanes have their beats mapped 
out for them like a City policeman. This does 
not mean that every square yard of salt water 
is covered — an obvious impossibility — but it 
does mean that as many square yards are 
watched as is humanly and practicably possible. 
In one month 90,000 miles were travelled 
by seaplanes on patrol, and 80,000 miles by 
airships. 

When the war was very young, a seaplane 
containing an officer and a petty officer was 
scouting. Without any preliminary warning 
the engine broke down, and they were com- 
pelled to descend and drift on the surface with 

167 



War in the Under seas 

a heavy sea running. Of rescue there seemed 
to be little hope. Fog completely enveloped 
them. A survey of the damage proved that 
patching up was altogether out of the question. 
Nothing short of a lathe would suffice. The 
airmen fell back on tobacco, " the lonely man's 
friend." Even this comfort speedily failed 
them. Cigarettes and sea-sickness do not go 
well together. The poor fellows held on and 
watched their machine gradually break up. 
They were horribly ill, and on the verge of 
despair, when the throb of machinery suddenly 
fell on their ears, and a destroyer peered in 
through the opaque surroundings of their little 
world. They were no longer face to face with 
death. Other men have not always been so 
fortunate. One does not necessarily have to be 
washed overboard to be " lost at sea." 

A couple of seaplanes on outpost duty 
were watching the waters below with great 
interest when one of them sighted a submarine 
travelling on the surface. They were up a 
good height, but the observers duly noted a 
couple of men on the conning-tower. Ap- 
parently the Germans were too intent on the 

168 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

business in hand to observe the sky-pilots, 
who kept on a steady course. They suffered 
a rude awakening a few minutes later. A 
weighty bomb fell plumb on the starboard side 
of the sea pest, midway between the conning- 
tower and the stern. That bomb ' did its bit ' 
for King and Country. Slowly but surely the 
U-boat heeled over, ceased to make progress, 
and lay like a log on the water. Then the bow 
rose at an awkward angle, and the vessel began 
to settle rapidly. Another bomb, released by 
the second seaplane, burst close to the conning- 
tower, followed by a third bomb, " to make 
assurance doubly sure." This particular sub- 
marine was not handed over to Sir Reginald 
Tyrwhitt. 

America did much excellent work in help- 
ing the British Navy to rid the seas of 
underwater pests. An ensign in the U.S. 
Naval Reserve attached to the Aviation Service 
was patrolling in a British seaplane with a 
British observer. Within thirty minutes of 
having started, " we sighted the periscope of 
a submarine directly in front of us," he reports. 
" Immediately I opened the engine full out 

169 



War in the Under seas 

and attacked, dropping a bomb which landed 
a few feet ahead of the periscope and directly 
in line with it. A moment later a great 
quantity of air bubbles came to the surface. 
The water all about began to boil. I turned 
and attacked again. This time I dropped a 
bomb of twice the size. It landed nearly in 
the centre of the first disturbance. A mass of 
oil now appeared on the surface in addition 
to the debris left by the bomb itself. The 
second disturbance continued for some time. 
Then I circled round for two hours before 
returning to warn merchant ships in the vicinity 
and inform a destroyer escorting a British sub- 
marine of what I had done and seen." 

From his point of vantage the look-out of a 
British airship noticed a steamer limping along 
in a manner which distinctly suggested that 
she was in difficulties. That had been a fairly 
familiar sight since the opening of Germany's 
illegal warfare. The cause of her crippled con- 
dition was evidently of enemy origin, though 
her assailant was invisible. Sea- wolves did not 
make a regular habit of gloating over their 
victims. That little hobby was only indulged 

170 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

in when the ' coast ' was clear. The coxswain 
headed the airship in the direction of the 
stricken steamer, but before reaching her tugs 
had made their welcome appearance and lent 
the assistance of a stout steel hawser that 
worked wonders. 

As a precaution against surprise the airship 
accompanied the miniature squadron. They 
proceeded quietly enough jfor a time, making 
fair speed, when a U-boat broke surface about 
five miles off. Signalling by wireless the 
position of the pest to all and sundry, the 
airship accelerated her engine and lowered to 
a height from which she could make the 
best use of her weapons. The submarine was 
not taken entirely unawares ; she submerged 
before the sea-hawk was immediately above. 
Two bombs, released simultaneously, caused a 
terrible commotion and effected a kill. A 
destroyer which had picked up the wireless 
subsequently dragged the spot, and signalled 
the cheering news, " You've undoubtedly bagged 
her." 

Better luck attended this effort than befell 
the pilot of a seaplane who came across a 

171 



War in the Under seas 

large submersible travelling awash. Here early 
demise seemed a certainty . Unfortunately there 
is many a slip 'twixt the bomb and the 
U-boat. One packet of high explosive fell 
ahead and another astern of the grey monster. 
The third was a marvellous shot. It did the 
aviator's heart good to see it strike. It landed 
directly in the centre of the deck. He had 
scored a bull's-eye. I am afraid I cannot 
quote what he said when the missile failed to 
detonate. His anger was not appeased by the 
knowledge that his supply of ammunition was 
exhausted. The enemy submerged, descended 
to the lowest depths, and made off. 

Observation balloons, towed by destroyers, 
although they obviously lack the initiative of 
airship and seaplane, have their uses like 
their more energetic brethren of the sky. 
On one occasion an observer telephoned that 
there was a U-boat in the neighbourhood. 
Depth charges were thrown overboard, but 
achieved nothing more than causing the boat 
to shift her position. She passed from mortal 
ken so far as her hunters were concerned. 
Later on, however, the submarine came to the 

172 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

surface and began shelling a poor little help- 
less sailing vessel that could neither escape nor 
offer effective resistance. The destroyer opened 
fire, and as a submersible is no match 
for this type of vessel, she promptly went 
below. Her rapidity of movement failed to 
evade Nemesis, though her smartness in this 
respect was highly commendable. Guided by 
the balloon, the parent ship took up the trail, 
and nine ' pills ' were sent overboard with the 
compliments of the captain. Then followed 
such a display of oil as is rarely seen. No fake 
oil squirt ever succeeded in covering a mile 
of sea with the colours of the rainbow. The 
U-boat had gone to her doom. 

The task undertaken by blimps and sea- 
planes in their daily warfare against the pirates 
was far from selfish. The Mistress of the Seas 
and her Allies kept guard over the welfare 
of neutral nations as well as of their own. 
While journeying homeward the Danish steamer 
dense was met by a German submersible. It 
signalled her to stop. The order was complied 
with without hesitation, but instead of making 
an examination of the ship's papers the U-boat 

173 



War in the Under seas 

opened fire, killing two of the crew. The 
enemy commander then ordered the survivors 
into the boat. This was really inviting them 
to commit suicide, for the weather was such 
as to render the likelihood of the men's being 
saved extremely remote. While this little 
tragedy of the sea was being acted, a British 
submarine put in an appearance, apparently 
from nowhere. She had been summoned by 
aircraft. The U-boat did not stay to fire 
further shells into the steamer. Not long 
afterward a British patrol ship on its ceaseless 
vigil came across the Danes in their cockle- 
shell, took them on board, gave them warm 
food and dry clothes, and amply demonstrated 
the fact that the British Navy was neither spite- 
ful nor cruel because it did not own the globe. 

A British coastal airship was scouting for 
a convoy bound westward. The voyage had 
been uneventful, when a look-out spied the 
track of a torpedo aimed with deadly certainty 
at one of the steamers. With marvellous 
agility the course of the airship was altered 
and traversed the trail still outlined on the 
water. It is said that she travelled at a rate 

174 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 
approaching ninety miles an hour. There was 
the gaunt form of the submarine right enough, 
though submerged. Well-placed bombs did 
the rest. 

Another airship, quietly sailing in the upper 
air, also came across a British convoy. The 
reply to the pilot's request for news was entirely 
unsatisfactory from his point of view. No 
U-boats had been seen or reported. Things 
were slow. They continued so for several 
hours after the two branches of the Service 
had parted, but brightened up a bit when a 
wireless message was received that a merchant- 
man was being attacked by a pirate. Details 
as to position proved correct. The sub- 
mersible was floating awash. Blimps being pre- 
eminently handy affairs which readily respond 
to helm and engine control, the airship was 
hovering over the U-boat before the latter was 
completely submerged. It boded ill for the 
intended victim, whose ballast tanks were 
slower in filling than the airship's mechanical 
appliances in accelerating. The first bomb was 
a good shot, but not a hit. It fell three feet 
short of the mark, and exploded astern of 

175 



War in the Under seas 

the propellers. That it did the enemy no good 
was evident. Streams of oil, too voluminous 
to be make-believe, spurted to the surface. 
The second bomb was a direct hit aft of the 
conning-tower, causing the stern to rise upward. 
It would have been waste of good ammunition 
to spend more on the wreck that lay below. 
She slowly turned turtle, and was no more 
seen. Another U-boat had paid the price of 
her perfidy. The blimp had scored a full 
triumph that admitted of no question. 

A seaplane was patrolling her section, keep- 
ing a sharp eye on possibilities in the nether 
regions that failed to eventuate. Presumed 
periscopes are sometimes in reality nothing 
more than mops or spars. After the novelty 
of flying has worn off it is apt to become 
a trifle boring without action. As the pilot 
was proceeding on his way, doubtless thinking 
that his luck was most decidedly out, he 
picked up a wireless message. Judging by its 
purport it was evidently sent by a U-boat no 
great distance off. He had not proceeded very 
far before he spotted his prey, comfortably 
squatting on the surface about a mile ahead. 

176 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

The seaplane was ' all out ' in a trice. Sea- 
hawk and sword-fish exchanged greetings, the 
one with a bomb, the other with a shell. The 
latter burst quite harmlessly within fifty feet 
of the aircraft, then splashed over the sea 
like a shower of pebbles. The bomb went 
more than one better. It fell on the U-boat 
and tore a great rent in her deck. While 
this battle royal was proceeding, three German 
U-boats, three torpedo-boats, and a couple of 
seaplanes were speeding in the direction of 
the firing. The weather was somewhat misty, 
but they sighted the solitary seaplane and 
tried to wing her. The pilot treated them 
with contempt, and calmly proceeded with 
the business immediately in hand. The firing 
in his direction became so heavy that it 
formed a barrage through which the German 
aircraft were totally unable to penetrate. 
The officer gave his enemy another dose of 
bomb, photographed her as she was going 
down, took a picture of her friends, and having 
exhausted his ammunition, returned to report. 

A gunner on a British submarine cruising 
off Denmark proved himself a better shot 

M 177 



War hi the Underseas 

than his German rivals in the afore-mentioned 
incident. Two enemy seaplanes saw the boat 
and dropped their highly explosive eggs. The 
bombs burst, made a great noise, but did 
no damage. A shell from the submarine sped 
straight and true and one of the seaplanes 
was brought down, whereupon her companion, 
realizing that the locality was unhealthy, beat 
a hasty and undignified retreat. 

German airmen naturally endeavoured to turn 
the tables on us. They hunted for British sub- 
marines in addition to doing scouting work for 
their own. Within a month of the outbreak of 
war an enemy airman and his mechanic got 
what was at once the greatest shock in their 
lives and the means of the aforesaid lives being 
preserved. Their machine had broken down, 
and they were using it as a raft, when one 
of His Britannic Majesty's submarines rose to 
the surface. Instead of making war on them as 
a ' biological necessity,' the commander rescued 
the two men and took them into Harwich, after 
their damaged craft had been satisfactorily 
disposed of. 

During the afternoon of the 6th July, 1918, 
178 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

a British submarine was on guard off the East 
Coast when five hostile seaplanes swooped 
down on her and made a vigorous attack with 
bombs and machine-guns. According to the 
German official account, the action took place 
off the mouth of the Thames, and two sub- 
marines were severely damaged, one of which, 
when last observed, was in a sinking condition. 
The report rather reminds one of occasions 
when Teutonic imagination has robbed the 
Grand Fleet of battle-cruisers. As it happened, 
the British craft sustained only minor injuries, 
and was towed into harbour by another sub- 
marine — presumably the one which the enemy 
had seen. She had suffered no inconvenience 
whatever from the seaplanes' attentions. Un- 
happily an officer and five men were killed in 
this attack. 

Some time since the Berlin Press made 
much ado about a British submarine being 
sunk by a German airship. It was when 
Zeppelins were considered to be rather more 
substantial assets in the Wilhelmstrasse than 
they subsequently became. A little later the 
' sunken ' submarine returned to her base 

179 



War in the Under seas 

without so much as a scratch on her bulgy 
sides, and reported that she had been in action 
with a hostile airship, which she had damaged 
and driven off. So much for the Truth as pro- 
pagated in Berlin. 

One of the most brilliant exploits of what 
I may term the aerial phase of war in the 
underseas took place in March 1918. The 
scene of the engagement, in which three British 
seaplanes and five German machines were 
involved, was just beyond the North Hinder. 
While the enemy were attacking from the 
rear, and our men were busily engaged in 
putting up a stiff fight, a U-boat made its 
appearance ahead with several officers and men 
on the conning-tower. The three Britishers 
dived down, and having nothing else available, 
fired their machine-guns at the spectators, who 
disappeared inside and slammed the hatch. 
They then took up positions to renew the 
aerial combat. The fight continued for half 
an hour, to be broken off by the enemy when 
five British trawlers were sighted. As for the 
submarine, she was nowhere to be seen. One 
of our seaplanes was then out of action owing 

180 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

to a petrol pipe having burst. It returned 
home without overmuch difficulty. 

Meanwhile the remaining two seaplanes 
carried on with their patrol work, though some 
of the men were relieved. Almost three hours 
later they came across as pretty a sight as 
British airmen could wish to see. The five 
Germans were floating on the water. The 
British gave them a round or two from their 
guns, but before they had got well within range 
the enemy were up and had taken places in 
their usual V formation at a height of about 
200 feet. This was speedily broken up as our 
airmen gained on them, the V rapidly assum- 
ing the appearance of an elongated I, or 
single line ahead. Having succeeded in scat- 
tering them, the British seaplanes attacked 
them individually. An enemy twin-seater was 
hurled down, followed by a second machine, 
whose observer and gunner were both shot, 
and a third seaplane was rendered unfit 
for immediate service. The other machines 
escaped because not a solitary cartridge was 
left available for pursuit ; in all 2500 rounds had 
been fired. A solitary casualty was sustained 

181 



War in the Under seas 

on our side. A wireless operator was wounded 
in the neck, whereupon his companions ad- 
ministered first aid and returned to their 
respective duties. 

Five British seaplanes were patrolling off the 
East Coast on the afternoon of the 4th June, 
1918. After a particularly ' tame ' flight, a 
similar accident to that which had occurred 
in the engagement related above compelled one 
of the machines to descend to the water. A 
petrol pipe had broken, and as repairs of this 
nature cannot be effected to a heavier-than- 
air machine while it is on the wing, there was 
no alternative but to come down. While the 
others were on guard, a squadron of five enemy 
aircraft was seen approaching. The seaplanes 
at once gave battle, but the Germans were in 
no mood for fighting, and made off as fast as 
their propellers would take them. When it 
was obvious that they could not be brought to 
action, the British machines returned to their 
crippled comrade. Two more hostile seaplanes 
appeared a little later, and were similarly 
disposed of. 

Before the wounded sea-hawk was fit for 
182 



Sea-hazvk and Sword-fish 

further righting, no fewer than ten hostile sea- 
planes came in view. Probably they were the 
previous flock concentrated and augmented. 
There was no thought of " retiring according 
to plan." The Britons went to meet the 
enemy, as is their wont. By taking the 
offensive they would also best screen their 
comrades below, who were working with an 
energy seldom equalled. They, like the others, 
wanted to be up and at them. The aerial 
battle was sharp and furious. Two of the 
German craft were shot down ; one of our 
machines fought till she could fight no longer. 
The latter eventually landed in Vlieland, 
Holland. Finding that the task of putting 
their craft in order was impossible with the 
appliances at their command, the crew of the 
other maimed machine set it on fire when they 
reached Dutch territorial waters, and made their 
escape by swimming to land. 

During the course of the action a British 
seaplane was attacked by two of the enemy, 
and the assistant pilot was shot dead. Five 
other German 'planes then closed with the 
British machine. The pilot made a nose-dive, 

183 



War in the Underseas 

shook off his assailants, and put up such a hot 
fight with the gun in the stern that they broke 
off the contest. A little later the petrol pipe 
of this machine also broke, and the seaplane 
was forced to descend for the needful repairs. 
Petrol pipes are the betes noires of the airman's 
life. The engineer air-mechanic did his work 
with such dexterity that within ten minutes 
everything was in running order again and 
the machine was climbing up to rejoin its 
companions. When it reached them they set 
out in search of the enemy. They met with 
no luck, and returned to their base. 

In such ways as these aircraft fought fish with 
steel fins and winged creatures after their own 
kind. There remained yet another method of 
warfare known to them, namely, bombing 
submarine bases, of which Ostend, Zeebrugge, 
and Bruges were probably the most important. 
Time after time one read in the newspapers 
that these places had been attacked by air- 
craft, until one wondered how it was that 
so much as a stone or a stick of timber was 
left. The reason is that a bomb explosion 
is entirely local in its effects. It does not 

184 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

spread like fire in a gale, though it may cause 
buildings to be gutted. It was only now and 
again that direct hits were scored on submarines, 
torpedo-boats, and other vessels in the docks. 
But there was another important factor to be 
taken into consideration. The soldiers, sailors, 
tinkers and tailors who inhabited these places 
could not possibly produce their best work under 
the strain of constant attacks from the air. 
They must have suffered from the ' jumps ' 
pretty frequently ; and Napoleon said truly that 
the moral is to the physical as three to one. 

Submarines, aircraft, and surface fighting 
forces were involved in the famous Christmas 
Day attack on the heavily fortified base of 
Cuxhaven in 1914. This was a sequel to the 
German naval raid on Scarborough, Whitby, 
and the Hartlepools ten days before. Seven 
seaplanes, three seaplane-carriers, escorted by the 
light cruisers Undaunted, and Arethusa, several 
destroyers and submarines, duly arrived in the 
neighbourhood of Heligoland. When they had 
left England the previous afternoon the coast 
was bathed in sunshine, but the mouth of 
the Elbe was fog-bound. However, the aircraft 

185 



War in the Under seas 

got away, their principal objective being the 
warships lying in Schillig Roads. The surface 
craft then toured about while awaiting their 
return, and were seen from Heligoland. Two 
Zeppelins, several seaplanes, and a number of 
U-boats came out to attack, but it is significant 
that although the British ships were off the 
German coast for three hours not a solitary 
surface vessel attempted to face them. They 
doubtless foresaw a second battle of Heligoland 
Bight and were anxious to avoid it. Bombs 
from the aircraft dropped fast and furious ; 
they merely ploughed the sea. Maxims, anti- 
aircraft weapons, rifles, and 6-in. guns took up 
the challenge and put the Zeppelins to flight ; 
torpedoes were fired at the Arethusa, and skil- 
fully avoided by swift manoeuvring. A Taube 
spotted one of our submarines, made half a 
dozen attempts to sink her, and failed. In 
this matter they were no more successful than 
the British seaplanes, which tried to hit an 
enemy torpedo-boat and a submersible. What 
actual damage was achieved by the airmen is 
unknown, but the Germans certainly scored at 
Langeoog. Under the impression that T.B.D.s 

186 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

were hiding in the fog off the island they 
dropped a number of bombs, thereby killing 
several civilians. 

Of the six British airmen who returned, 
three were picked up by our surface ships, the 
others by submarines. In the case of the 
latter the machines were sunk. For a time 
it was feared that Flight-Commander Hewlett 
had been brought down or was drowned, but 
he eventually turned up none the worse for 
his exciting adventure, having been picked up 
by a Dutch trawler. Chief Mechanic Gilbert 
Budds, writing to his father, gives a little 
glimpse of his exciting experiences. " Just 
fancy," he says, " Christmas Day — first on a 
ship through mine-fields, on a seaplane over 
the enemy's fleet and force, and then back 
in a submarine. During the homeward trip we 
had the gramophone going with all the latest 
music, and had chicken, Christmas pudding, 
custard and jellies for dinner. How's that, 
Dad, for a submarine in the heart of the 
enemy's fleet in war-time ? " 

After all, perhaps life in an underwater 
craft during the war had its compensations. 

187 



War in the Under seas 

The French seaplane patrol service also 
did wonderful things, as was to be expected, 
for our Allies took aircraft seriously when we 
only regarded them as expensive toys for 
wealthy folk with suicidal tendencies. In a 
single month, and in various samples of weather, 
their seaplanes made as many as 3139 nights. 
During the thirty days under review, ten sub- 
marines were attacked, six mine-fields were 
located, and nine night bombardments carried 
out. French airships also made 141 trips. 

So much for statistics, which is the prac- 
tical in undress uniform. Now for the more 
picturesque aspect of the Service. A couple of 
French sea-hawks were watching the Channel, 
and came across a German submersible on 
the surface. Apparently the commander of the 
U-boat had not the slightest notion that there 
was an enemy " up above the world so high" 
until he was attacked. When the rude awaken- 
ing came he began to submerge. The boat 
was not quite so quick in her movements as 
the seaplanes. The airmen dived with extra- 
ordinary rapidity, and both scored a bull's-eye 
on the target. 

188 




A Seaplane of the R.N.A.S keeping a Watchful Eye on an 

Enemy Submarine 18S 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

" The leading machine," says the semi- 
official note, " then returned to its base for 
a further supply of bombs, leaving the other 
machine to keep a look-out. The latter, a 
few seconds after the attack, saw the fore- 
part of the submarine emerge at an angle of 
45 degrees. Then the submarine slowly rose 
to the surface, without, however, being able 
to regain a horizontal position, and again dis- 
appeared in a violent whirlpool. Three times 
at short intervals the submarine attempted 
to rise to the surface, taking at each attempt a 
stronger list to starboard. Then the observer 
saw the whole of the submarine's port side 
exposed, while the submarine rested on its 
beam ends. Finally the vessel disappeared 
without having succeeded in getting its conning- 
tower above water." 

One Sunday a British pilot and a French- 
man attached to the R.N.A.S. were on the spy 
for U-boats off the Belgian coast. They had 
scarcely been in the air half an hour, and had 
reached a height of about 9000 feet, when 
they saw two submarines lying side by side 
on the surface. The spot was some five 

189 



War in the Under seas 
miles west of Nieuport, where the water is 
shallow. To the aviators it looked very much 
as though the craft were just above a sand- 
bank. So much the better for the attackers. 
The boats would have furnished lovely targets 
had there been no look-out below, but it was 
first of all necessary to decrease the distance 
separating the airmen from the objects about 
to be attacked, and during the descent the 
Germans saw their enemy. One of the sub- 
marines managed to get away, leaving the other 
to fend for herself. At 600 feet Lieutenant de 
Sincay dropped a bomb right on the conning- 
tower. A second missile did such terrible 
execution that the boat sank like a stone. 

The great Austrian naval bases of Cattaro 
and Pola were visited several times by Italian 
airmen. On one occasion a raid was made on 
the former harbour at night and direct hits 
were scored on submarines and torpedo-boats, 
while an aerial attack on Pola was responsible 
for the destruction of three U-boats under- 
going repairs. 

It is only doing bare justice to remember 
that neutral aviators also played a part in 

190 



Sea-hawk and Sword-fish 

making a life under the rolling deep in a 
U-boat anything but pleasant. Time and 
again German pirates endeavoured to use 
the deep fiords of North-western Scandinavia 
for purposes best known to themselves, but 
in all probability as convenient rendezvous 
for stabbing Norwegian vessels in the back. 
Several tried to hide themselves in Bergen 
Bay. They were discovered by native airmen 
and promptly informed that if they did not 
quit the neutral zone without delay they would 
be interned. They left. 



191 



CHAPTER X 

U -Boats that Never Returned 

" Let us march farther, undaunted and confident, along 
the road of force. Then our future will be secure against British 
avarice and revenge. The German is too good to become 
England's vassal." — Admiral von Scheer. 

MANY U-boats were buried in the 
same grave as their last victim. 
This was not adequate retribution, 
but it left the Navy and the Mercantile Marine 
with one submarine the less to fight. 

Close to the wreck of the great White 
Star liner Justicia, a magnificent steamer of 
32,000 tons, lie the remains of one of her 
attackers. There may be others, but I give 
the official figure. The submarine in question 
was sunk by the destroyer Marne on the 
20th June, 1918, the day the Germans were 
being driven back across the historic river 
whose name she bore. The Justicia was dogged 
by submersibles for twenty-two hours, during 
which time no fewer than seven torpedoes 
were fired at her. It was the most determined 

192 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

onslaught ever made by U-boats. Moreover, the 
attack is remarkable by reason of the fact that 
not only were destroyers and other craft con- 
voying the vessel, but she herself was armed. 

The first torpedo struck and exploded in 
the engine-room, killing fifteen men and in- 
juring the third engineer so terribly that he 
died later. The second weapon was diverted 
from its course by the Justiciars gunners ; the 
third missed. Depth charges and other means 
were used to deal with the menace, and ap- 
parently with success. During the ensuing 
night nothing further was seen or heard of 
the enemy. Early the following morning, how- 
ever, two torpedoes were fired simultaneously, 
one taking effect in No. 3 hold, the other in 
No. 5 hold. When it was realized that there 
was not the remotest chance of bringing the 
Justicia to port, the crew of between six 
and seven hundred were quietly transferred 
to another vessel. The liner kept afloat for 
eight hours after that, a remarkable testi- 
mony to the efficient work of those who had 
built her in the Belfast yards of Messrs 
Harland and Wolff. 

n 193 



War in the Under seas 

Several commanders of U-boats asserted 
that a number of attempts had previously been 
made to sink the Justicia, but had failed 
because she was provided with torpedo-nets. 
This does not seem altogether an adequate 
explanation, unless we are to presume that the 
devices alleged to be in use were not in position 
when the maritime snipers succeeded in sending 
her to Davy Jones's locker. 

The during-the-war policy of the British 
Admiralty as regards lost, stolen, and strayed 
U-boats was one of reserve, and rightly so. 
When you are on the watch for a gang of 
burglars you make as little fuss about it as 
possible. If full publicity had been given to the 
methods of capture the Central Powers would 
have speedily become conversant with them. 
We preferred to let the enemy find out things 
for himself — if he could. To use an expression 
common on the Western Front, it ' put the 
wind up ' German crews to find that an ever- 
increasing number of their friends on U-boats 
failed to report after a voyage. Except in rare 
instances no information as to their fate came 
to relieve their friends' anxiety. They just dis- 

194 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

appeared from mortal ken. It did not make 
for ease of mind ; it harrowed the nerves of the 
strongest. The effect on the moral of the enemy 
was distinctly marked. The plot rebounded. 
The sea-dogs of the British Merchant Service 
were to be frightened into submission ; their 
ships were to rust for want of use, moss was 
to grow on the quayside. It was the U-boat 
which surrendered to the White Ensign. 

The first enemy submersible to be lost 
was U 15, sunk in the North Sea by H.M.S. 
Birmingham on the 9th August, 19 14. This 
was admitted by Mr Winston Churchill in a 
telegram to the Lord Mayor of the cruiser's 
name-place, whose loyal citizens had made a 
presentation of plate to her officers' mess. 
U 15 was a small vessel of about 300 tons, 
carrying a crew of twelve officers and men, 
and appears to have had two or three con- 
sorts with her. An A.B. on the Birmingham, 
which was attached to the First Light Cruiser 
Squadron, sighted the periscope of a submarine, 
and fire was opened at once. The noise of 
the guns and the piercing notes of the bugle 
calling all to action stations brought those 

195 



War in the Underseas 

who were not on watch to their allotted 
positions in double quick time. Officers in 
pyjamas, men with one leg in their trousers 
and one out, scampered along the upper deck 
as though joining in a race, anxious only 
to get to grips with the enemy. It is said 
that the first shell struck the periscope and 
rendered the submarine sightless. If so, it was 
a marvellous shot at a range of a couple of 
miles or thereabouts. Probably the sailor who 
set the story going was indulging in a little 
game of ' leg-pulling,' a hobby not unknown 
in the Navy. There was a mighty swerve as 
the captain of the cruiser altered course so 
as to be out of the line of fire. In another 
instant the Birmingham was racing toward her 
assailant as though the engines would tear 
themselves from their pits in the excitement 
of the chase. Every gun was trained on the 
U-boat. Another shot rang out, wrecking 
the conning-tower. The sharp steel bow of 
the man-of-war did the rest. There were no 
survivors. 

In October 1914 it was announced that 
the T.B.D. Badger had rammed and probably 

196 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

sunk an enemy submarine. This was con- 
tradicted by the Germans, who asserted that 
the vessel in question had returned to her 
base in a damaged condition. There was 
less uncertainty about a U-boat casualty that 
happened in the following month. U 18 pene- 
trated a certain harbour in the north of 
Scotland much frequented by naval vessels. 
It happened that just as the submarine was 
going in, a trawler attached to the Patrol was 
coming out. Apparently the tough little craft 
passed over the U-boat, for the skipper im- 
mediately signalled, " Have struck submarine." 
Now a submarine chase was much appre- 
ciated by those who commanded destroyers. 
There was sport about it rather more exciting 
than merely "barging about the North Sea." 
The T.B.D. Garry was first in the field. She 
slipped along in wonderful style and attempted 
to ram the enemy as she was endeavouring to 
get away. According to a seaman, the peri- 
scope crumpled up, but the jar that was felt 
was scarcely enough to warrant his commander 
in believing that the U-boat had run her course. 
Accordingly he cruised about for a while, 

197 



War in the Under seas 

anticipating that eventually she would come to 
the surface if any life remained in her. This 
is exactly what happened, and once again the 
Garry worked up to full speed. She was on 
the verge of crashing into the enemy when the 
crew appeared on deck. One of them waved 
a white handkerchief in token of surrender. It 
was a narrow squeak, but the destroyer rescued 
three officers and twenty-three of her crew. 
One of the latter was drowned. He volun- 
teered to stay behind and open the Kingston 
valve so that the craft might not be captured. 
To give a chronological list of the U-boats 
known to have perished in the war, with par- 
ticulars of their death, would occupy all the 
pages in this volume. I can therefore only 
cite a few instances. The story of the sinking 
of an unknown marauder by the Thordis, a 
little coasting steamer of 500 tons, is too well 
known to require retelling. 1 Captain Bell was 
the first master in the Merchant Service to win 
official recognition as a submarine-sinker. 

1 More detailed particulars will be found in my Daring 
Deeds of Merchant Seamen, p. 221, and Stirring Deeds of 
Britain's Sea-dogs, p. 275. 

198 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

U 8 had been operating in the Straits of 
Dover and the English Channel for several 
weeks before she was finally rounded up by 
a dozen destroyers under the command of 
Captain C. D. Johnson. This was in the after- 
noon of the 4th March, 1915. Here again there 
was an alarming discrepancy in the company 
the submersible ought to have carried and 
the number she actually had on board. Her 
normal complement was twelve officers and 
men ; when she was sunk twenty-nine sur- 
vivors were picked up. The sinking of U 8 
and U 12 was made the basis of a threat of re- 
prisals upon British officer prisoners in Germany 
because the authorities at Whitehall did not 
" feel justified in extending honourable treat- 
ment " to the men of U 8. They held that 
there was " strong probability " of their having 
" been guilty of attacking and sinking un- 
armed merchantmen " and " wantonly killing 
non-combatants." Sir Edward Grey pointed 
out that up to the time of the incident more 
than a thousand officers and men of the 
German Navy had been rescued from the 
sea, " sometimes in spite of danger to the 

199 



War in the Under seas 

rescuers, and sometimes to the prejudice of 
British naval operations." Not a single British 
sailor had been picked up by the enemy. 
The widely circulated report that the officers 
of U 8 were guests of Royal Artillery officers 
at lunch at Dover Castle was a falsehood. 

The life of U 12 as a pirate was extremely 
short. She was caught by the destroyer Ariel 
on the 10th March, 1915, before she had been 
able to do anything approaching appreciable 
damage, her sole victim being a little steam 
collier of 60 tons, which she sank by means of 
a bomb. 

A certain amount of mystery is also associ- 
ated with this particular submarine. Her dis- 
placement, if she were the original U 12, was 
300 tons submerged and 250 tons above water. 
Fourteen men would have been ample to work 
her, yet she had a complement of twenty-eight. 
It is possible, though the idea seems somewhat 
far-fetched on account of the limited accom- 
modation on board, that the men in excess 
were being trained. What appears to be far 
more probable is that an old number had been 
given to a new boat, just as the name Arethusa 

200 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

has been borne by a long line of fighting ships 
in the Royal Navy. Ten of the pirates were 
picked up and landed in Scotland ; eighteen 
were drowned. 

Although Captain Otto Weddigen achieved 
momentary fame in Germany as the hero of 
an exploit that sent the Aboukir, the Cressy, 
and the Hogue to the bottom of the North Sea, 
he did not live long to enjoy his popularity. 
When the U 9, the submarine which he com- 
manded on that occasion, was withdrawn 
from service, he was given the U 29, believed 
to have a displacement of some 800 tons, 
and to be armed with two quick-firing guns 
and four or more torpedo tubes. One of the 
U 9*s last adventures was to get entangled in 
the net of a Dutch steam trawler, necessitating 
the cutting away of the lines. 

U 29 first appeared as a commerce-destroyer 
about a fortnight before she was sent to the 
bottom. Her hunting-ground was the vicinity 
of the Scillies. Known as ' the Polite Pirate,' 
Weddigen sank five or six merchant ships, and 
on occasion regaled the crews with cigars and 
wine and towed their boats toward land. 

201 



War in the Under seas 

Not once did he behave with the stupid and 
blundering brutality of many of his associates 
in arms. When the crew of the Adenwen were 
taking to the boats, one of the men fell 
overboard. Weddigen happened to be on 
the conning-tower at the time. Noticing the 
sailor's plight and his rescue, the captain of 
the U-boat sent him a suit of dry clothes. 

The German commander's order Pour le 
Merite and the Iron Cross of the First Class 
went down with his ship. This misfortune 
reached the Kaiser's ears. That august per- 
sonage sent duplicates to Weddigen's widow, 
at the same time condoling with her in " the 
bitter loss of a man whom the entire Fatherland 
mourns, who achieved unforgettable fame for 
himself and the Fatherland, and who will live 
for all time as a shining example of daring, 
calm, and resolution." 

Weddigen's humanity came in very useful 
when the fate of U 29 had to be explained in 
the German Press. The Deutsche Tageszeitung 
suggested that " British ships surprised U 29 
while she was busy saving the crew of the 
steamer. In the midst of this humane work 

202 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

the knightly English must have caught U 29 
while she was helpless, and it would be easy 
for them to destroy her. The noble hypo- 
critical sentimentality of the English Press 
about the captain points to facts of this kind." 
Admiral Klaus, writing in the Vossische 
Zeitung, put forward the theory that the 
submarine was sunk by a British ship flying 
a neutral merchant flag, and added that as the 
British Admiralty had seen fit to withhold 
details there were apparently good reasons 
for not being proud of the success. The only 
information vouchsafed by the officials of the 
Wilhelmstrasse was couched in the baldest of 
bald language : " U 29 has not yet returned 
from her last cruise. According to the report 
of the British Admiralty issued on March 26 
[1915], the ship sank with her entire crew. 
The submarine must therefore be regarded as 
lost." The burial of the U-boat in a shroud of 
mystery must have been horribly galling to 
the bigwigs of Berlin. The intimation that 
she was " sunk by one of His Majesty's ships " 
conveyed nothing to them except the obvious. 
On the 9th June, 1915, Mr Balfour announced 
203 



War in the Under seas 

in the House of Commons that a German sub- 
marine had been sunk and the entire crew 
taken prisoners. The German Admiralty subse- 
quently announced that U 14 was evidently 
the vessel in question, as it had " not 
returned from its last expedition." 

Whether the following letter is a typical 
revelation of the mind of the German under- 
water sailor or not is more than I can say, but 
it is particularly interesting as showing that 
the writer was thankful to a kindly Providence 
for sparing him when the game of piracy and 
murder had come to an end and he was safe 
in British hands. It could scarcely be supposed 
that every German who sailed in a submarine 
did it of his own free will or took a delight 
in the work. I can only suggest that all too 
often the Prussian Cult makes blackguards of 
men who are not by nature what they after- 
ward become. The communication runs as 
follows : 

My dear, good Parents, 

Go to church the first Sunday after you receive these 
lines from me, and thank the good God for having so 
mercifully watched over and preserved me. I have 
fallen into the hands of the English, unwounded and 

204 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

whole in body and mind, and have been well treated, 
quite particularly so by the English naval officers. 

It was an extremely sad day for me. First of all in 
the morning I saw dead on the deck two poor Norwegians 
who had unhappily fallen victims to our gunfire. The 
day will be engraved on my memory in letters of blood. 

But as for you, dear parents, do not be distressed, and 
do not weep for me. The good God Who has protected 
me hitherto will continue to be my aid, and if it should 
be His will that I should quit this world I shall know 
how to die. 

The submersible in which the writer of the 
above letter served was UC 39, commanded 
by Otto Ehrentraut, a personal friend of 
Prince Henry of Prussia. UC 39 was a mine- 
layer, but does not appear to have been so 
employed when she was destroyed. She was 
simply indulging in cold-blooded piracy with 
the aid of torpedoes and shell. Her first 
victim was the Norwegian s.s. Hans Kinck. 
Although the vessel stopped when summoned 
to do so, many rounds were fired at the helpless 
ship. Victim No. 2 was the British s.s. Hanna 
Larsen, which was sunk by bombs and the 
master and chief engineer made prisoners. 
Victim No. 3 was another Norwegian steamer, 
the Ida, when the old practice of firing after 

205 



War in the Under seas 

the vessel had stopped was again indulged. 
No fewer than twenty shells were hurled at 
her before Otto Ehrentraut gave the order to 
cease fire. It was only then that the men in 
one of the Idas boats ventured to come along- 
side and inform him that two of their comrades, 
both wounded, had been left on the sinking 
vessel. When a German officer clambered on 
board, the mate and the steward were lying 
dead on the deck. There they were allowed 
to remain while the Ida was finished off with 
bombs. 

A steamer and a trawler were next attacked. 
Both escaped in the mist. Another steamer 
was encountered a little later, but this time 
UC 39 caught a Tartar. A destroyer was close 
by and opened fire. Before the submarine 
could dive sufficiently low to make her where- 
abouts uncertain a depth charge exploded in 
her near vicinity. Water poured in, making 
it dangerous to remain submerged. So she 
came to the surface, to receive a tornado 
of fire from the man-of-war. Ehrentraut 
appeared on the conning-tower, and was struck 
by a shell. His place was taken by another 

206 



U -Boats that Never Returned 

officer. As UC 39 continued on her course, the 
commander of the destroyer yelled through 
a megaphone for her to stop. Before she 
answered the summons several of the crew 
had been killed or wounded, but seventeen 
survivors were rescued. All these events were 
crowded into two days. 

The French, Italian, and Japanese Navies 
all displayed splendid prowess in dispatch- 
ing submarines. The Austrian U 3, a small 
submarine of 300 tons displacement when 
submerged, was rounded up in the Lower 
Adriatic by the French T.B.D. Bisson after 
a search in which Italian men-of-war had 
joined. No sooner was the periscope sighted 
than the destroyer scored a hit at over 3000 
yards. The second shot was not so successful, 
for it fell short, but the third struck her and 
exploded in the engine-room. Although U 3 
went down in half a minute, twelve of her 
crew were rescued. 

The U-boat which wrecked the Chateaurenault 
in the Ionian Sea on the 14th December, 1917, 
took a lot of killing. After the enemy had 
sent her first torpedo, the spot where she 

207 



War in the Under seas 

submerged was riddled with shells. On her 
reappearance shortly afterward, the gunners 
of the cruiser opened fire, causing her once 
more to make a hasty withdrawal. A second 
torpedo followed, and the U-boat was again 
shelled, while two seaplanes dropped bombs. 
Unable to keep under water, she came up for 
the last time, and was literally blown to pieces. 
I have scarcely touched the fringe of a vast 
topic. In August 19 18 Mr Lloyd George 
stated that 150 enemy submarines had been 
destroyed by the British Navy alone since 
the beginning of the war. Before the end 
forty more had been added to the obituary 
list, while three were destroyed by the Germans 
at Zeebrugge, half a dozen foundered in British 
minefields, and one was lost in the North Sea 
while crossing to Harwich. Precise particulars 
of the When and Where of submarine-hunting 
cannot even now be given, but the How of the 
matter will be related in fuller detail in later 
chapters. 



208 



CHAPTER XI 

Depth Charges in Action 

" I believe the day is not distant when we shall overcome the 
submarines as we have overcome the Zeppelins and all the 
infernal machines started by the Germans in this war." — 
Lord Milner. 

ONE of the most effective antidotes 
for the submarine menace when 
the approximate whereabouts of the 
enemy is known is the depth charge, already 
mentioned more than once in these pages. 
Outwardly it resembles nothing more murderous 
than a cylindrical drum such as is used for 
storing paraffin oil. There the likeness ends. 
Inwardly it is filled with high explosive, and 
fitted with a fuse that can be set to detonate 
at any desired depth. Given a reasonable 
amount of luck, the surprise packet when 
thrown overboard blows up in the track of the 
enemy. Very often it strikes a death-blow, 
sometimes it does such extensive damage that 
it is only with extreme difficulty that the 
injured craft can crawl back to port, and 
o 209 



War in the Under seas 
occasionally the enemy escapes with nothing 
worse than a nasty jar. The effect naturally 
depends on the distance separating the charge 
from the target. 

Some time since a young friend of mine 
who is an engineer officer on a certain armed 
auxiliary was asked if he would volunteer to 
take charge of the engine-room of a mine- 
sweeper. " Their man " was in sick bay, 
and as mine-laying U-boats had become in- 
creasingly active in the vicinity, it was highly 
desirable that operations should be resumed with 
the least possible delay. As his own ship was 
not due to sail for several days, he assured the 
skipper that he would be delighted to render 
any possible service. Incidentally he looked 
forward to what he termed " a bit of sport." 

It was abominably rough outside the sheltered 
seclusion of the harbour, and he was beginning 
to think that ' a willing horse ' is a synonym 
for a fool, when a terrific crash made the 
ship quake, flung him in anything but a 
gentle manner against the nearest handrail, 
and nearly burst his ear-drums. Our friend 
glued his eyes to the indicator, expecting it to 

210 



Depth Charges in Action 

swing round to ' Astern ' or ' Stop.' The hand 
remained motionless. He comforted himself 
with the reflection that if the bow was blown 
to bits or the vessel sent sky-high it was none 
of his business. It was not his duty to inter- 
fere with the navigation of the ship, which 
was certainly ploughing her way through the 
short and choppy seas as though nothing 
untoward had happened. 

Presently the skipper's burly form appeared 
at the casemate. " What on earth was that ? " 
asked the engineer. " Only a depth charge 
exploding a couple of miles away," was the 
answer. " There's lots of oil hereabouts." 

Unfortunately the Allies were not the sole 
possessors of the prescription for these 
quick-acting pills. Depth charges ' made in 
Germany ' were sometimes dropped in the 
tracks of British submarines. A certain com- 
mander, who also knows what it is to face 
the ugly muzzles of 6-in. guns spitting flame 
when a submarine is cruising awash, confesses 
to a preference for the latter weapon. This is 
the reason why : 

He came near the surface at an awkward 
211 



War in the Underseas 

moment. No sooner had he fixed his eyes to 
the periscope than he discovered that enemy 
torpedo-boats — not one but many — were in 
the immediate neighbourhood. Their move- 
ments showed them to be perfectly well aware 
of his presence. His orders were terse. Any 
hesitation in translating them into action 
would have meant disaster. The boat began 
to descend, nose foremost. She continued 
travelling in that direction even when it was 
a matter of urgent importance to maintain 
an even keel. Something had jammed, and 
jammed badly. Then there was a terrific 
report, followed by a concussion that did more 
than merely shake the submarine. Some of 
the crew were knocked down. No need to ask 
if there had been a seaquake. Everybody 
knew right enough what had happened, and 
fully realized that the shock was probably only 
the prelude to further episodes of a similar 
kind. Rivets, bolts, and plates held good — 
so did the beastly jam. The submarine just 
dived to the bottom. There the officer let 
her remain without any attempt to repair the 
trouble. Like Brer Rabbit, he believed there 

212 



Depth Charges in Action 

were occasions when it is supreme wisdom to 
' lie low ' and do nothing. This was one of 
them. There was no immediate haste. He 
appeared to be waiting for something. 

The ' something ' came three minutes later, 
accompanied by a deafening bang that made 
rich, warm blood run cold. Another depth 
charge had been hurled overboard. It made 
the submarine rock, but a careful investigation 
of every nook and cranny made it evident that 
she had not so much as sprung a leak. British 
shipbuilders are the finest in the world when 
they like, and they had liked when putting 
together this underwater craft. With those 
on board the Norah Creina the commander 
could say, " God bless every man that swung 
a mallet on that tiny and strong hull ! It was 
not for wages only that they laboured, but to 
save men's lives." 

Evidently the enemy was not quite satisfied 
that he had killed his prey. There was 
nothing on which to base a report of death. 
Surmise is not certainty ; it withholds proof. 
The Germans got out their sweeps and began 
fishing. The imprisoned men could hear the 

213 



War in the Under seas 

cable scraping along their boat, and thanked 
God when it ceased. The wire rope got en- 
tangled in nothing. That was a big mercy. 

A third depth charge was heard and felt 
to explode, nearer this time, but still with- 
out doing serious injury. The torpedo-boats 
dropped no more ground-bait after that. The 
submarine was " missing, believed killed." The 
Germans were not fond of remaining in one spot 
for any considerable time. When the victim was 
dead or mortally wounded, there was no need 
to attend the funeral. There were always the 
grey police of the Patrol to be reckoned with. 

Down below the crew of the " missing, 
believed killed " were straightening things out 
and wondering if they were to receive 
further attention from above. Two, four, six, 
eight hours passed, daylight with them. Little 
likelihood of the hunters being about now. 
Then the submarine, according to the official 
report, " proceeded to her base." 

Before the war I tried to puzzle out why it 
was that human beings, of their own free will, 
became firemen on a battleship. One minute 
in a stokehold is sixty seconds too long 

214 



Depth Charges in Action 

for most people. To me the problem remains 
unsolved. Are they all possessed of the steel 
nerves of Hotham when he was told to fight 
his vessel till she sank and was comforted by 
Duncan's remark that he had taken the depth 
of the water and that when the Venerable went 
down his flag would still be flying ? Stoking 
is bad enough, but what of those who volunteer 
for service in a submarine ? They do not seem 
to be out of the ordinary ruck of humanity. 
Solve the riddle of the ' something ' they 
possess and you will be able to put down in 
black and white, after the manner of a sum, 
the secret of Britain's Sea-power. 

Seemingly unconscious of the unpleasant 
fact that a T.B.D. was a mere mile away, 
a submersible broke surface, presumably to 
recharge her storage batteries. No sooner had 
she come to the top than the commander dis- 
covered the British vessel racing toward him 
at full tilt. If the destroyer missed a fine 
chance of ramming by reason of the Hun's 
alertness, she certainly seized a rare oppor- 
tunity for dropping a couple of depth charges. 
They gave the enemy a terrible shaking. No 

215 



War in the Underseas 

other reason would- have brought the U-boat 
so perilously near the surface as to uncover 
the periscope, which appeared at an angle 
sufficiently rakish to show that the submarine 
was anything but comfortable. The T.B.D. 
gave her another dose. One or two other 
vessels appeared, anxious to render assistance 
with a further supply of concentrated de- 
struction. In addition to a lavish waste of 
oil, there came to the surface four significant 
things : a calcium float, a broken steel buoy, 
a wooden ladder, and a lifebelt. I do not 
think there is the least likelihood that that 
particular U-boat returned to Zeebrugge or 
any other lair. 

Sometimes even more conclusive evidence of 
decease was furnished by the victim. Motor 
launches which formerly lived a genteel ex- 
istence, lifting silver cups at smart regattas, 
became terribly efficient engines of war as 
submarine-chasers. One of them sighted the 
' eye ' of a U-boat not more than 200 
yards away. A couple of depth charges were 
dropped on the spot just after she had dis- 
appeared. Some hefty sheets of metal came 

216 



Depth Charges in Action 

hurtling up from Neptune's kingdom, flung 
wide of the attacking vessel by great good 
fortune. The usual tell-tale streaks of oil, 
ascending in ever-increasing volume, afforded 
further testimony to the efficacy of the 
explosions. 

Some U-boats took a lot of killing ; they 
seemed as hydra-skinned as the offspring of 
Typhon and Echidna was many-headed. They 
came to resemble the poor patient who has 
a complication of diseases and yet lives for 
years. Therefore we usually made assurance 
doubly sure. A destroyer on patrol gave a 
submersible a thundering good ramming. There 
was no doubt about it, because the skipper 
on the bridge saw a gaping hole in the hull 
just before the conning-tower, and seeing is 
believing. Now it was no part of British war 
methods to impose a lingering death on our 
enemies, however deep-dyed in sin they might be. 
We got the killing business over as speedily as 
possible. On this occasion two depth charges 
were flung out to polish off the job with 
the maximum of celerity. Then the destroyer 
circled round the spot on the off chance that 

217 



War in the Underseas 

the U-boat might still be near the surface. 
There was plenty of oil rising thereabouts, but 
the commander of the T.B.D. was not quite 
convinced of a ' kill,' and it was his business 
to deal with facts rather than probabilities. 
So he anchored a buoy near the spot, deter- 
mined to return at daylight. When he came 
back several hours later rainbow patches were 
still rising. He used another depth charge 
before proceeding on the uneven tenor of his 
way. In due course the position was swept 
and the wreck located. 

Lord Jellicoe has told us that at night a 
submarine travelling awash is not visible at a 
distance of more than 200 yards. Moon- 
light, of course, increases visibility, and on the 
particular night I have in mind the look-out 
on a British auxiliary sighted a U-boat in 
surface trim about half a mile distant. The 
patrol vessel gave chase, but the submarine 
managed to submerge before her enemy 
came up. Half a dozen depth charges were 
dropped overboard. Their explosion — ' some 
explosion,' as Uncle Sam would say — was 
followed by what the commander termed a 

218 




The Destroyer's Short ^Way with the U-Boat 

Sighted at a distance of several miles, a British destroyer found a U-boat in 
difficulties and ended them in the manner depicted. 



Drawn by a Naval Officer 



218 



Depth Charges in Action 

' disturbance ' about 300 yards distant, which 
may or may not have been the U-boat breaking 
surface, likely enough inadvertently. At any 
rate, a shot whistled in that direction. Vast 
pools of oil settled on the water. Harsh, 
guttural voices made themselves audible above 
the tumult. One survivor was picked up. Sir 
Eric Geddes has said that when the full 
story of the British Navy in the Great War is 
told " it will surpass in heroism and daring 
and ingenuity and wonder the tales of Captain 
Marry at." 

The speed of a convoy is necessarily that of 
the slowest ship, but sometimes bad steaming 
plays ducks and drakes with the keeping of a 
correct formation, on which so much depends. 
Ships have an awkward way of falling behind, 
necessitating their being shepherded like a 
flock of sheep, and adding considerably to the 
risks. The commander of a convoy needs a 
sweet temper. 

A merchantman was forming an involuntary 
rearguard on her own account. She had fallen 
behind, and in her isolated position was an 
ideal target for any U-boat that might happen 

219 



War in the Under seas 

to be lying low by reason of the presence 
of lynx-eyed destroyers with the main body. 
One of the latter was detached to hasten up 
the sluggard. Scarcely had she reached her 
before one of the steamers in the van was 
neatly torpedoed. Heading for the track of 
the steel fish, the T.B.D. apparently cut across 
the submarine. She quivered from stem to 
stern with the force of the bump. The skipper 
of a sister ship distinctly saw a periscope 
sticking above the waves, and, coming up, 
dropped a depth charge, which was followed 
by an explosion and the appearance of 
the U-boat astern. Both destroyers put their 
helms right over, and opened fire. The fight 
was ended by one of them charging the sub- 
mersible and literally chopping her in half. 
Both sections kept afloat for a few seconds, then 
disappeared in two mammoth whirlpools. It 
was one of the cleanest cuts of the war, though 
a United States cruiser managed to perform 
a similar feat a few weeks later. 

While escorting a convoy a look-out on the 
U.S. destroyer Fanning noticed a periscope 
sticking out of the water. Heading for the 

220 



Depth Charges in Action 

spot, a single depth charge was unloaded. 
The U-boat came to the surface, and after a 
short chase meekly surrendered. According 
to the evidence of prisoners, the machinery 
of the submarine was wrecked beyond repair. 
The Germans referred to depth charges as 
' water-bombs.' Frankly, they were not en- 
amoured of them. With that abnormal lack 
of humour which no Briton can understand, 
Commander Rose of the Kaiser's Underseas 
Navy explained that " their material effect is 
only small " — witness the above samples — 
" but the infernal din of their explosion " 
had a great moral effect, " especially on an 
inexperienced crew." 



221 



CHAPTER XII 

Singeing the Sultans Beard 

" There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the 
continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the 
true glory." — Sir Francis Drake. 

TO win the first Victoria Cross awarded 
to a naval officer in the Great War, 
to be the first submarine commander 
to gain it in any war — these are no mean 
distinctions. Primarily, of course, Lieutenant 
Norman Douglas Holbrook, R.N., owed his 
blue ribbon to " most conspicuous bravery," 
as the Gazette has it, but to this must be 
added a particularly daring and unique exploit 
that showed exceptional tactical and executive 
skill. 

The deed was not one of those lightning- 
stroke affairs that lack premeditation and are 
accomplished on the spur of the moment in 
the heat of battle. The elements of conflict 
were there, guns, ammunition, soldiers, and all 
the stage scenery necessary to give a picturesque 
and enthralling setting. The chief actor alone 

222 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

failed to appear in the picture. I would not 
for the world attempt to minimize the superb 
heroism of any holder of a much-coveted de- 
coration. Yet there is a marked difference 
between this particular deed and all others 
that had gone before. It was accomplished 
in a place remote from other British battle 
forces. The young officer neither carried a 
wounded man on his back amid a storm of 
bullets, his comrades looking on, nor with a 
machine-gun held up a horde of Huns. 

Harking back, it is interesting to recall 
that the first person to win the V.C. was a 
bluejacket — an above-salt-water sailor. Hol- 
brook belonged to the same splendid Service, 
but to a section unborn when Charles Davis 
Lucas flung overboard a live shell from H.M.S. 
Hecla off Bomarsund in 1854. The commander 
of B 11 gained his fourpenny worth of bronze 
in a submarine below the sea. What Hol- 
brook's meritorious action lacks in intensity 
of swift drama is more than compensated by 
the cool and calculated daring of the whole 
proceeding. 

Standing quietly in a sealed chamber breathing 
223 



War in the Underseas 

* canned air ' for nine mortal hours, dodging 
mines, torpedo-boats, and gunfire from forts, 
requires a steady nerve and a concentration of 
mind and purpose beyond what is called for 
in open fighting. He accomplished what he 
had to do, brought back his ship, fourteen 
men and an officer, quite safely, and betrayed 
an eager anxiety as to what his next task 
might be. 

It was not as though Holbrook had been 
placed in command of a brand-new vessel of 
modern type, replete with the latest improve- 
ments, spacious, comfortable, and minus the 
stuffiness so inseparably associated with earlier 
craft. B ii was one of the smallest, slowest, 
and oldest submarines in the British Navy. 
She had been launched in 1906, when Holbrook 
was still a ' snotty,' which is the Service name 
for midshipman. There was no question as 
to the risks all on board knew they were about 
to run. It was an adventure in the truest 
sense of the word, without a single ' dead cert.' 
in it. Every man jack of them left letters 
behind, " in case of accidents," as one of the 
brave fellows modestly put it, and he added, 

224 



Singeing the Saltans Beard 

perhaps half wistfully, that the commander 
was " a very cool hand." The latter fact 
needs no qualification ; it is self-evident. For 
one thing the Lieutenant had promised his 
mother "to be careful " when he bade her 
good-bye at Portsmouth. He fulfilled his 
pledge, as is the habit of worthy sons of worthy 
parents. Later on, when he gave her an 
account of his deeds, Holbrook gently reminded 
her of his vow in a subtle way. He signed his 
letter, " Your affectionate and careful son." 
Which shows that a sense of humour is likewise 
one of his traits. 

Lieutenant Holbrook had been appointed 
to H.M.S. Egmont at Malta for the command 
of B ii in December 19 13. What he and his 
submarine did in the interim of a year does 
not concern us. The blue waters of the Medi- 
terranean hid them from the public gaze for 
exactly twelve months. Then they suddenly 
turned up in the iEgean Sea, hundreds of 
miles from their base. The Angel of Peace 
had retired sadly before the bustling entrance 
of Mars. A combined British and French 
squadron was gathered together in the neigh- 
p 225 



War in the Underseas 

bourhood of the entrance to the Dardanelles. 
There was an idea that big ships and big guns 
could smash their way through the Straits 
and appear before Constantinople. Eminent 
naval men said that the project was perfectly 
feasible ; others that it was an impossible task. 
The ' Ayes ' had it ; the ' Noes ' came into 
their own a little later. The heavy fathers of 
the Fleet had tuned up for the overture at 
daybreak on the 3rd November, 1914. On 
the 13th of the following month Holbrook 
and his merry men started to pierce the Straits 
via the underseas. 

Wiseacres in the battleships, jealous of the 
reputation of the giants, and secretly itching 
to follow in the tracks of Admiral Sir J. Duck- 
worth, who had got through in 1807, before 
battleships were quite so bulky and the Turks 
so well prepared, called in superstition to justify 
their views. The 13th was, and always had 
been, unlucky. It was the height of foolishness 
to tempt Providence with that date staring at 
one from the calendar. Really, the lack of 
wisdom in their superiors was beyond words ! 

The commander of the expedition was too 
226 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

eager to get on with the job to be deterred by 
superstition, and too much occupied with prac- 
tical affairs to be concerned with old women's 
tales once the Dardanelles had been entered. 
The Hellespont of ancient history is a bit of a 
teaser to a navigation officer. It has all manner 
of depths and shallows, widths and currents. 
Mists frequently hang between the rocky heights 
and the low hills of the landlocked waterway 
like steam and smoke in a railway tunnel. To 
these difficulties were added peril from mine, 
floating and fixed, peril from the guns of forts 
and land batteries, and peril from whatever 
naval forces might be in the vicinity. 

Holbrook's main object was to torpedo 
the Turkish battleship Messudiyeh. She was 
guarding the mine-field in the roadstead of 
Nagara, below the Narrows. Here the distance 
between the banks is only some 1400 yards, 
and the current often runs at the rapid rate 
of four and a half knots. The Messudiyeh was 
a rather curious specimen of naval architecture, 
the combined product of British and Italian 
labour. Launched at Blackwall forty years 
before, she had been rebuilt to a great extent 

227 



War in the Under seas 

at Genoa in 1902. From the point of view of 
armament she was by no means to be despised. 
Although her two 9.2-in. breech-loaders were 
being overhauled in England and had given 
place to wooden replicas, she mounted twelve 
6-in. quick-firers, and over two dozen smaller 
weapons — a plentiful selection of guns for ser- 
vice should B n's periscope be sighted. As a 
matter of fact it was sighted, but not before 
Holbrook had taken his observations and dis- 
charged a torpedo, as we shall have occasion 
to notice a little later. 

The 10,000-ton battleship was perhaps the 
least of the difficulties that confronted the 
intrepid Lieutenant. When beset by so many 
dangers comparison between one and another 
is of little consequence. The ship was anchored, 
and therefore presented as fine a target as a 
submarine commander could wish. But before 
she could be reached there was a gauntlet of 
five rows of live mines to be run. It was no 
good trying to ' rush ' the Straits. For one 
thing, the motors of B 11 could not propel her 
more than 5| knots an hour when submerged, 
and only 11 knots on the surface, and for 

228 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

another, speed would have been a disadvantage 
rather than a help. Barging into the nearest 
horned canister is not good for the health of 
a submarine, and Holbrook realized that he 
must feel his way in the painful manner of a 
blind man, with the difference that at intervals 
he could use his periscope. 

The fact that the Messudiyeh had been the 
flagship of a British admiral previous to the 
outbreak of war lent a sentimental interest 
to the commander's project. All submarine 
officers are not compounded of crude blood 
and iron, as popular belief has it. Holbrook 
is a particularly human specimen of the species, 
and has more than a strain of idealism in 
his make-up. Rear- Admiral Limpus had been 
engaged in reorganizing the Ottoman naval 
service previous to the winning-over of the 
Turks by the Germans. To be sure the service- 
able material at his disposal, so far as battle- 
ships were concerned, was poor enough. These 
numbered three in all, but three on the effec- 
tive list are better than none, and two Dread- 
noughts were under construction in England. 
The last-mentioned are now members of the 

229 



War in the Underseas 

great family that goes under the generic name 
of the Royal Navy. 

Holbrook threaded his way through the 
mines, as Nelson dodged the shoals at Copen- 
hagen, got within target-distance of his intended 
victim, took his bearings, and discharged an 
18-in. torpedo, the first to be fired by a B boat 
since the commencement of the war. 

Do not run away with the idea that it was 
a one-sided affair — a game of naval cricket 
with the British commander as bowler and 
the batsman out of his wicket. The wash of 
the periscope had been spotted by a keen-eyed 
look-out on the Messudiyeh. Before Holbrook 
knew the result of his aim, shells were falling 
unpleasantly near, and not a few ! The enemy 
peppered the spot with a mighty weight of 
metal, but B n was down and under when the 
Turks got the correct range. Even then things 
were precious uncomfortable, for the submarine 
grounded on a shoal, with only about thirty 
feet of water above her thin skin. It took some 
little time, plus much bumping and scraping, to 
get clear, but Holbrook never turned a hair. 
Flurry is not in his dictionary. He gave an 

230 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

order or two, then waited. On the whole 
B ii behaved herself very well. She got into 
deeper water, from which Holbrook took a look 
round to ascertain the extent of the damage 
done. After expressing his satisfaction, he 
again descended. 

During the whole voyage B n remained 
submerged for nine of the longest hours that 
the crew had ever experienced. The early 
British submarines are cramped and stuffy, 
with the minimum of accommodation and 
the maximum of discomfort. At least the 
crew could congratulate themselves on having 
accomplished something, for there had been 
a mighty reverberation a few seconds after 
the torpedo had started on its travels. It 
was horribly difficult to keep a straight course 
on account of the current, but coxswains 
and men proved themselves worthy of so 
gallant a skipper. 

What of the Messudiyeh ? It was given 
out by the Turkish authorities that she had 
sunk at her anchorage off the Asiatic shore 
" as the result of a leak," and that part of the 
ship was still above water. The communique 

231 



War in the Under seas 

has a refreshing touch of humour about it 
not altogether characteristic of the general 
run of similar announcements. If we may 
accept the word of ' a reliable source,' the 
veteran turned turtle in shallow water within 
five minutes of having received Holbrook's 
compliments. Of the battleship's crew, which 
may have numbered 600 or more, the same 
authority states that only twenty-three escaped. 
These were got out by the dexterous manipula- 
tion of axe and saw. 

If Englishmen take their pleasures sadly, 
they make war with a light heart. Shortly 
after his return, Lieutenant Holbrook was 
presented with a specially constructed Iron 
Cross — a huge metal affair almost as big as his 
head. Commander Bromley ' performed the 
mock ceremony on board H.M.S. Indefatigable, 
to the immense amusement of the assembled 
company. 

Holbrook was rightly acclaimed the Hero of 
the Service. Admiral Count Bettolo, voicing 
the opinion of the countrymen of Columbus, 
said that the achievement was a " magnificent 

1 Now Captain. 
232 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

feat which highly honours the British Navy 
and shows the firm determination to succeed on 
the part of the English sailors." " The British 
Navy," he added, " wishes the world to know 
it is capable of heroism and daring not inferior 
to that of any other Navy. The organizer of 
the raid has demonstrated that he possesses 
the qualities to triumph at any cost." In 
Russia the exploit was hailed as one of enor- 
mous military value, which the enthusiasm 
of the moment doubtless suggested but sub- 
sequent events did not justify. It certainly 
robbed Turkey of the Messudiyeh. Most im- 
portant of all, Lieutenant Norman Douglas 
Holbrook had blazed a trail. 

Lieutenant Sydney T. Winn, second in 
command of B n, was appointed to the 
Distinguished Service Order. No one was 
more delighted to hear of this honour than 
Lieutenant Holbrook. All the members of the 
crew were granted the Distinguished Service 
Medal. 

The ill-fated Dardanelles Campaign, so rich 
in deeds of daring and so poor in practical 
results, introduced to the world at large two 

233 



War in the Underseas 

other submarine commanders, each of whom 
won the V.C. in connexion with it. 

Lieutenant-Commander Edward Courtney 
Boyle, R.N., took E 14 beneath the enemy 
mine-fields and suddenly appeared in the Sea of 
Marmora on the 27th April, 1915. He was stalk- 
ing transports, the enemy's favourite method 
of conveying troops to Gallipoli because the 
land communications consisted of a solitary 
road. The submarine, a larger and more 
powerful boat than B n, with a displacement 
of 810 tons, did not return to her base until 
twenty-two days later. When she arrived it 
was much to the astonishment of many officers 
and men of the Allied Fleet, who had firmly 
believed that she and her brave crew had gone 
to Davy Jones's locker. 

During the interim E 14 had dodged mines, 
navigated treacherous currents, kept out of 
harm from hostile patrols, sunk a couple 
of gunboats, wrecked two transports — one 
crowded with 6000 troops — and poked her 
inquisitive nose into the Bosphorus. 

The first week spent in the Sea of Marmora 
was terribly exciting. E 14 was hunted by 

234 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

all the light craft at the disposal of the Turks. 
Gunboats, destroyers, and torpedo-boats took 
part in the chase, without achieving the 
slightest success. Their failure, combined 
with shortage of coal, caused most of them 
to be withdrawn from the service. Thence- 
forth they assumed the more humble role of 
convoys. This phase lasted a short time only. 
After Boyle had sunk the large troopship already 
mentioned, the Turkish soldiers refused to go 
by sea, preferring to march for three days and 
three nights rather than run the risk of meeting 
the terrible submarine. 

E 14 went into the Marmora on two sub- 
sequent occasions. Altogether she spent no 
fewer than seventy days there. On her last 
visit she had to break through the net placed 
across the Dardanelles by Nagara Point. As 
this formidable obstacle was made of chain 
and 3|-in. wire, it " required some breaking," 
to quote the words of the commanding officer. 
Then Boyle's first lieutenant developed typhoid, 
and was ill for the remainder of the voyage, a 
matter of over a fortnight. About fifty vessels, 
including dhows laden with grain and other 

235 



War in the Underseas 

useful commodities, were sent to the bottom 
by E 14, but — mark this — no non-combatant 
ship was ever sunk before the crew had been 
taken close inshore in their boats and had been 
fed if they were hungry. Submarines can be 
good Samaritans, despite German assertions to 
the contrary. It should also be added that for 
two days E 14, in conjunction with En, 
shelled the reinforcing troops marching to 
repel the Suvla Bay landing. 

Boyle superbly earned and won the V.C., 
his colleagues, Lieutenant E. G. Stanley, R.N., 
and Acting-Lieutenant R. W. Lawrence, R.N.R., 
were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, 
and each member of the crew was given 
the Distinguished Service Medal. One can 
fully appreciate the statement of Admiral 
de Robeck, that "it is impossible to do full 
justice to this great achievement." On the 
occasion of E i4's first penetration of the 
Straits the King sent the gallant Commander 
and his crew a telegram of congratulation. 

Another E boat carried this process of any- 
thing but peaceful penetration still farther. 
Lieut. -Commander Martin Eric Nasmith, R.N., 

236 



Singeing the Sultans Beard 

not only took E n through the Dardanelles 
and crossed the Sea of Marmora, but actually 
succeeded in entering the Golden Horn, situ- 
ated no fewer than 170 miles from the entrance 
to the Straits. At the quay adjoining the 
arsenal he fired a torpedo, which " was heard 
to explode." Whether it hit a transport or 
a lighter laden with firebricks lying near by 
has not been ascertained with certainty. The 
Turks and their Teutonic friends are none too 
keen on telling the truth if it is to their dis- 
advantage. One informant had it that the 
barge was blown to smithereens, and that 
part of the debris was flung with such terrific 
force against the German Levant steamer 
Stambul that she was holed and had to be 
beached. Another report stated that the 
strong current deflected the torpedo, causing 
it to blow up part of the jetty. All inde- 
pendent observers were at least unanimous 
as to the effect of the raid on the nerves of 
the inhabitants of Constantinople. The people 
were panic-stricken, and when the Turkish 
guns opened fire on their invisible foe they 
merely contributed to the ferment. So far 

237 



War in the Under seas 

as Nasmith was concerned, it was almost a 
case of ' much ado about nothing.' E n 
escaped with no worse casualty than a jagged 
wound in her periscope ! Many of the Turks 
thought that the Russian Black Sea Fleet 
had broken through and was bombarding the 
capital as a preliminary to the landing of troops. 
Nasmith was merely singeing the Sultan's 
beard, as Drake had singed that of Philip of 
Spain three centuries before. 

Whether the torpedo in question struck 
troopship, lighter, or jetty at Constantinople 
does not much matter ; the Commander's 
remaining torpedoes found their billets right 
enough. Nasmith undoubtedly destroyed two 
heavily laden transports, a large gunboat, an 
ammunition ship, and three store ships, while 
another vessel containing supplies was driven 
ashore. As though this bag were not large 
enough, he returned to torpedo a fourth 
transport when his crew were congratulating 
themselves that the most dangerous part of 
the homeward voyage had been safely 
negotiated. The ammunition ship blew up 
with a terrific explosion. By her loss the 

238 



Singeing the Stdtans Beard 

enemy was deprived of thousands of charges, 
a quantity of gun mountings, and a 6-in. gun. 
Having sunk everything that could be sunk, 
Nasmith returned to report. 

The most unpleasant incident of a whole 
chapter of exciting passages occurred in the 
Sea of Marmora. The submarine ran foul of 
the cable that anchored a mine. As other 
canisters of death were in the vicinity, it was 
much too perilous to attempt to go astern in 
the hope that the steel rope would become 
disentangled. The mine was the submarine's 
unwelcome guest for eleven miles. Every 
officer and man knew it, and each realized 
only too well exactly what would occur if one 
of the horns of the beastly thing bumped 
against the boat or struck some floating object. 
What with submerged torpedo tubes skilfully 
rigged up by the Turks on shore, land batteries, 
forts, floating and anchored mines, there was 
sufficient food for reflection to say nothing of 
the sinister appendage, and it is perhaps not 
surprising that the company was serious. If 
conversation was not animated this was not 
entirely due to the somewhat sultry atmosphere 

239 



War in the Underseas 

of E ii. However, Nasmith got rid of the 
mine at last, and when he emerged among the 
battleships and cruisers at the other end of 
the Dardanelles no King or Kaiser ever received 
a warmer welcome. 

This young hero of thirty-two years, who 
had already attracted notice by his ready 
resource when A 4 inadvertently sank while 
exercising at Spithead in 1905, had certainly 
earned his V.C., and the same may be 
recorded of his brother-officers, Lieutenant 
Guy D'Oyle-Hughes, R.N., and Acting- 
Lieutenant Robert Brown, who were given 
similar distinctions to those awarded to the 
subordinate officers of E 14. Had Nelson 
been alive we may be quite sure he would 
have admitted the heroes of this chapter to 
his gallant ' band of brothers.' Their exploits 
are memorable, as Bacon says of another great 
naval episode, " even beyond credit, and to 
the Height of some Heroicall Fable." 



240 



CHAPTER XIII 

On Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

" British submarines may take to themselves the credit of 
having damaged our trade and shipping in the Baltic." — 
Captain Persius. 

BEFORE our Russian allies abandoned 
the sword and the ploughshare for 
revolution and famine the Baltic was 
alive with naval doings. Occasionally it even 
became the scene of intense activity. When 
the former subjects of the Little Father ob- 
tained their liberty, and thereby shackled 
themselves with a greater tyranny, the inland 
sea of Northern Europe passed to the enemy. 
The unweaned democracy of Russia sought 
peace with paper and not with a sword, hugging 
the delusion that a new heaven and a new 
earth could be created with the aid of the 
devil and the whirlwind. The Baltic became 
a vast German lake. With the acumen of a 
committee of Frankfort Jews, and in pur- 
suance of the much-vaunted Mittel-Europa 
policy that was both commercial and political, 
Q 241 



War in the Under seas 

the Fatherland at once projected a canal be- 
tween the Baltic and the Black Sea. This, of 
course, would have rendered the Empire entirely 
independent of the sea-water and long-distance 
route from Odessa, the granary of the South. 

Great Britain was Russia's only ally in the 
Baltic before she surrendered. Two or three 
battle-cruisers from the neighbourhood of the 
Orkneys would doubtless have been a desirable 
addition to her naval strength, but there were 
good and sufficient reasons why they were 
withheld. What would have happened had 
there been no revolution can only be surmised. 
Certainly there was a time when the appear- 
ance of large British vessels was not regarded 
as altogether visionary. Sir John Jellicoe, 
when Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, 
stated that it would be difficult to go to the 
Baltic, but not impossible, and he hoped the 
day might come when the two Navies would 
fight a common foe. That day never arrived. 
Submarines alone represented the might and 
majesty of the British Navy; and excellent 
representatives they made. These underseas 
craft, which threaded their way through the 

242 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

tortuous channels of the Cattegat and the 
Sound, or were conveyed in sections from 
Archangel by inland water transport, rendered 
yeoman service. Some of the boats put in 
three long years of hard and hazardous work 
before the signature of the fatuous Brest- 
Litovsk Treaty negatived further effort and 
the ice-bound condition of the frozen waters 
made escape impossible. Their tasks accom- 
plished, they were blown up by their own 
crews. The battered plates of seven worthy 
successors of the gallant little Revenge lie 
buried deep in the Gulf of Finland. Not 
every British victory is perpetuated to an 
apathetic posterity by such visible tokens as 
a sail-of-the-line or a gun at the United Service 
Museum. There are other and grimmer relics 
which will never meet the public eye. 

Scouting for months in conditions bordering 
on life in the Arctic, eternally on the prowl for 
the High Sea Fleet, sinking men-of-war and 
German cargoes, holding the enemy at bay 
while the Russian Fleet secured safety in the 
Gulf of Finland and the Huns sought to 
corner it at Reval — these and other things 

243 



War in the Underseas 

must be put to the credit of British submarines 
in the 160,000 odd square miles of waterway 
which constitute the changeful northern sea. 
Flat and sandy coast, rocky and precipitous 
cliff, treacherous shallows, weather as fitful 
as the temper of a fractious child, added to 
the anxieties of the watchers. If ever there 
existed a legitimate excuse for jumpy nerves, 
surely it was here. Yet throughout their long 
vigil officers and men upheld the worthy 
tradition of the British sea game. Not one 
enemy merchant ship was sunk without warn- 
ing, or before ample time had been afforded 
every member of the crew to secure safety in 
the boats. No shot was fired until they had 
pulled away from the danger zone. If the 
distance from land was great, the submarine 
stood by until a neutral took charge of the 
refugees. " That bloody wild beast that 
slumbers in man " of whom Robert Louis 
Stevenson makes mention was never allowed 
to awake, though often enough there was 
sufficient of insolence and bitter hate on the 
part of the enemy to arouse it. 
The case of the s.s. Nicomedia, of Hamburg, 
344 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

is typical of British methods inJthe^Baltic. 
This big steamer was laden with 6700 tons 
of valuable ore for the hungry melting-pots 
of Essen. E 19 hauled her up, gave her 
complement ' fain'its ' to gather their belong- 
ings and stow them into the boats, patiently 
waited for them to clear out, and then sent 
the ship to the bottom with the assistance of 
a dynamite cartridge. No cold-blooded-murder 
tricks sullied the fair fame of the English- 
speaking seafarers, who thus gave the lie 
direct to the Teutonic assertion that submarine 
warfare could only be carried on if it set at 
nought the common decencies of humanity. 

The sportsmanlike behaviour of the British 
was entirely unappreciated by the enemy. 
They deliberately falsified the accounts which 
they sent broadcast throughout the world as 
part of their propaganda work. For instance, 
neutrals were informed that the commander 
of a British submarine had blown up the 
s.s. Germania in Swedish territorial waters by 
placing a bomb in her hold. When sighted 
off the Swedish coast the vessel was bound for 
Stettin with a cargo of 2750 tons of concen- 

245 



War in the Underseas 

trated iron ore. Shots were fired as a signal 
to her captain to stop, and also to warn him 
that he was making straight for a dangerous 
sandbank. They were disregarded, with the 
inevitable result that the Germania ran ashore. 
Then, and not till then, the British boat 
entered Swedish waters, intent only on saving 
the crew and helping to salve the vessel. Not 
a soul was found on board. After spending 
an hour in a useless endeavour to move the 
steamer, the ship's papers and some fresh 
meat were removed to the submarine. When 
the British officers and men left the Germania 
the engine-room was already partly submerged. 
On the water reaching the boilers they quite 
naturally blew up. No attempt was made to 
destroy the vessel. 

After the high seas had been swept of much 
Teutonic baggage, the Baltic alone remained 
to the German merchant service as a field for 
possible operations with surface vessels. West- 
ward of the Skager-Rack the way was barred 
by the British Grand Fleet ; eastward, the 
German High Sea Fleet felt more or less 
confident of supremacy, though not positively 

246 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

sure. The Russian Baltic Fleet, consisting of 
four pre-Dreadnought battleships, six armoured 
cruisers, four protected cruisers, over a hun- 
dred destro}^ers, twenty or more submarines, 
and four Dreadnoughts in the making, 1 was 
obviously numerically weaker than that of the 
second naval Power in the world. It was not 
in a position to undertake a vigorous offensive. 
The strategy adopted, to quote Admiral Kanin, 
was that of regarding the Baltic Fleet as 
"a continuation of the extreme flank of the 
Army." Its task was " as far as possible to 
support the movements of the army, protect- 
ing it against envelopment by the German 
Fleet." The element of uncertainty, from the 
enemy's point of view, was introduced by 
England as usual. Had the latter not declared 
war, Germany could have swamped the Russian 
Fleet and landed troops for the invasion of 
Russia without fear of molestation from the 
sea. As it was she had to keep -both eyes 
open, for on each flank she had maritime 
enemies. It was scarcely likely that any of 
Britain's battleships would venture to render 

1 These were duly put in commission. 
247 



IVar in the Underseas 

assistance, but what of her submarines ? The 
machines in which Germany placed so much 
faith were not her secret. They represented 
no new departure. Britain might attempt to 
get a squadron or two through the narrow 
passageway. When the devil gets among 
tailors, complications are more than likely. 

Evidence that the Germans anticipated in- 
roads from hostile underwater craft is afforded 
by the vigilance of their guard at the doors 
affording entry and exit. Three E boats 
once tried to make the passage in company. 
Two of them got through unscathed, though 
trawlers were busily hunting for poachers at 
the time. No. 3 got into difficulties with a 
sweep slung between two of the afore-mentioned 
watch-dogs. She ran smack into the hawser, 
seeing nothing, got entangled, and gave her 
commander furiously to think on ways and 
means of possible extrication. By the ' feel ' 
of it the officer knew approximately where the 
cable had caught, so he went astern, cocked 
the boat's nose up a little, and attempted to 
' step ' over it. The manoeuvre was executed 
with celerity. Rapidity of movement is the 

248 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

soul of underwater warfare. Once let the 
watchers above become aware that they had 
a ' bite/ and an explosive charge would come 
rattling down the line with the ease of a load 
of bricks on an aerial railway. Then good-bye 
to the Baltic and all deeps. They must have 
felt the tug, but it was so momentary that 
it is more than likely it was put down to 
jetsam, and one does not waste good material 
on lumps of sunken wreckage. The string of 
death rasped along the keel of the submarine, 
slipped over the bow, and freed itself. If 
the commander of E — failed to mutter an 
audible exclamation of thankfulness, he at 
least breathed a little more freely as a sign of 
relieved tension. He had lived an hour in less 
than sixty seconds, and for aught I know added 
a grey hair or two to his head as outward 
and visible indications of inward perturbation. 
On another occasion a squadron of the High 
Sea Fleet left the sheltering shores of Kiel 
Bay for a trip in the Baltic. Three additional 
British submarines were detailed to pass 
through the Sound. No patrol work this ; 
their orders were to attack. They left their 

249 



War in the Under seas 

base in company, intending to make the 
passage of fifty miles together on the first 
favourable night. During the voyage one of 
the craft developed a minor malady, to which 
submarines are subject. As she could not keep 
up with the others, and instructions were not 
to be disregarded, the lame duck had perforce 
to limp her way alone. Her consorts aroused 
no suspicion until they had actually entered 
the Baltic. Then the enemy became aware of 
their presence. While trawlers and torpedo- 
boats hunted for them, four merchantmen in 
line abreast, supported by warships, swept 
the entrance to prevent others from following 
suit. 

The third submarine, restored to health, 
arrived twenty-four hours late. The com- 
mander fully appreciated what was happening. 
He sought salvation in bluff. As the sweepers 
were showing navigation lights he quite 
reasonably argued that if he made a similar 
display he might possibly get through. He 
came to the surface, lamps were placed in 
position, the operation began. For a time it 
looked as if the artful little ruse would be 

250 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

successful. Then from out the surrounding 
darkness a torpedo-boat was felt rather than 
seen coming full tilt at the submarine. It 
took the latter three minutes to submerge, 
according to the log-book ; the surface craft 
occupied a little longer in reaching the spot. 
Even then it was a mighty close shave. There 
were not many feet of blue water between the 
enemy's keel and the submarine's conning- 
tower. 

After an interval the British commander 
thought he would try his luck again, minus 
lights. He waited his opportunity, riding 
quietly on the waves in the meantime, and 
keeping a pair of keen eyes to his night-glasses. 
Presently a ship came along, seemingly intent 
on navigating the difficult passage through 
the Sound. The low-lying craft awakened 
into life, and followed at a respectful distance. 
There was just a chance that she would not 
be detected. The blackness of the night pre- 
vented the officer from being certain of the 
nature of his pilot, otherwise he would scarcely 
have used her as a screen. A mouse does not 
creep behind a cat. Meantime she was making 

251 



War in the Underseas 

no great speed, and looked like some old tub 
loaded to the Plimsoll mark with merchandise. 

Then for no apparent reason the vessel 
suddenly developed marked eccentricity, went 
dead slow, then put on full speed, altered 
course, and made in the direction of her 
follower. The submarine again sought refuge 
in the chilly and inhospitable waters, and her 
company listened to the threshing of propellers 
racing above. She returned home, " prior to 
making a further attempt." Thus the com- 
mander in his official communication to My 
Lords of the Admiralty. 

In October 19 14 it was announced that the 
cruiser Prinz Adalbert had been sunk by two 
shots from a submarine off Libau, with the 
loss of most of her crew. According to a 
Petrograd report, her demise " was effected 
after much skilful manoeuvring " by a British 
submarine. The cruiser was not actually the 
Prinz Adalbert, but a vessel of the same class. 
The warship bearing that name fell a victim 
to a British torpedo in the autumn of the 
following year. 1 

1 Sec post, p. 264. 
252 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

A light cruiser — name unknown — and a 
torpedo-boat were taking an airing when a 
certain British submarine of the celebrated 
' E ' class met them. The larger vessel was 
torpedoed forward, apparently set on fire, and 
showed signs of sinking by the head. As the 
torpedo-boat sought to pounce on the enemy 
the submarine passed under her stern and 
struck the cruiser in or near the after-magazine. 
There was a double explosion. The torpedo- 
boat and her tornado of shell were dodged a 
second time. Three minutes later the periscope 
showed no cruiser. 

On the ioth October, 1914, an attempt was 
made by enemy submarines to sink the Russian 
Admiral Makaroff, at the moment busily engaged 
in searching a suspicious fishing-boat flying the 
Dutch commercial flag. Several torpedoes were 
fired, but missed, and the armoured cruiser 
beat off the enemy. On the next day, however, 
the German craft atoned for previous bad 
marksmanship by sinking the Pallada, a sister 
ship of the Admiral Makaroff, while she was 
scouting in company with the Bayan. This 
success was achieved through the ' neutral 

253 



War in the Under seas 

flag ' trick. The submarine lay in waiting 
behind a vessel displaying Dutch colours. 
The ruse was discovered too late. Although 
subjected to a heavy fire, the submarine got 
a shot home which apparently exploded the 
magazines. This vessel, armed with two 8-in., 
eight 6-in., and many smaller guns, had a 
normal complement of 568 men. Not a soul 
was saved. An interesting sequel to this 
disaster was furnished by the announcement 
of the Russian Naval Headquarters Staff that 
during the course of their predatory operations 
on the 10th and nth a German submersible 
had been sunk by the fire of the Bayan, a 
second foundered through striking a mine, 
and a third was put to flight by a torpedo- 
boat. Admiral von Essen, Commander-in- 
Chief of the Russian Baltic Fleet, told the 
Tsar that twenty unsuccessful submarine 
attacks had been made within two months 
previous to the sinking of the Pallada. 

Early in 1915 the German cruiser Gazelle 
was attacked off the Danish coast by a sub- 
marine whose nationality was not disclosed, 
although rumour had it that she was Russian, 

254 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

but commanded by a British officer. Despite 
a big hole in her side made by the explosion, 
the cruiser was able to keep afloat and reach 
Sassnitz with the assistance of a ferry steamer. 
As a withering fire was kept up by the enemy, 
and floating mines were flung out indiscrimin- 
ately as a further means of protection, a second 
shot was impracticable. 

A lonely Russian submarine boldly attacked 
an enemy squadron of ten battleships and 
a swarm of torpedo-boats in the following 
summer. One evening, when far out in the 
Baltic, the commander picked up dense black 
clouds of smoke on the horizon. Then the 
funnels of warships and their massive hulls 
rose out of the sea. They were proceeding 
in two columns, the smaller vessels on the 
flanks of the larger ones. 

An hour or more passed before the squadron 
was sufficiently near for action. As the vessels 
approached, the commander concluded that 
his best position would be on the port side of 
the oncoming ships, between the enemy and 
the light. He raised his periscope, and believ- 
ing he had ample time to change his position 

255 



War in the Under seas 

before the torpedo-boat in the van of the right 
column came abreast of him, proceeded to 
carry out the manoeuvre. The submarine rose 
a matter of fifteen feet to bring her periscope 
again into use. The ' eye ' revealed the dis- 
tance between her and the first of the on- 
coming battleships as certainly not more than 
sixty yards. The officer fired a torpedo, 
dived immediately, and struck the ram of 
the object at which he had aimed. As no 
German battleship draws less than twenty- 
six feet of water, the boat had evidently not 
submerged sufficiently rapidly. 

Everybody on board firmly believed that 
their craft would founder. Only those who 
have been in a similar occurrence or a railway 
collision can appreciate the appalling sudden- 
ness of such a crash. The electric light bulbs 
burst, the boat assumed a list to starboard, 
something in the superstructure snapped, water 
came in. Apparently the engines had sustained 
no damage from the shock, for they continued 
to work without any appreciable loss of speed. 
The boat descended seventy-five feet. Then the 
sound of a great tumult penetrated her steel 

256 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

plates. The commander afterward declared 
that when he heard the explosion he was 
perfectly convinced that the boat in her 
damaged state could not withstand the pres- 
sure of the water. He tried to reach the 
surface several times, but on each occasion 
was compelled to descend because the thud 
of screws above told only too plainly that 
the enemy vessels were still in the same area, 
some doubtless assisting the wounded battle- 
ship, others zigzagging about in the hope 
that the assailant might be made to pay the 
full penalty. When the officer tried to use 
the periscope he found it to be irretrievably 
damaged, and about as useless as a broken 
cowl on a chimney-stack. It revealed a blank. 
At 11.30 the commander, hearing nothing to 
suggest the presence of the enemy, rose to the 
surface after having been below four hours. 
The submarine reached port without further 
incident, and was docked for repairs. To this 
day the commander does not know whether the 
vessel he aimed at was put hors de combat. 

Late in June 1915 a number of enemy war- 
ships bombarded Windau with 9.4-in. guns, 

R 257 



War in the Under seas 

and also tried to effect a descent on the 
coast with a view to co-operating with the 
German army in Courland. The invasion project 
was entirely unsuccessful, and the naval forces 
were compelled to retire. The defence seems 
mainly to have been the work of torpedo- 
boats ; no mention was made on either side 
of the presence of submarines. A similar 
attempt made three weeks before had robbed 
the Russians of the Yenissei, which fell a victim 
to a U-boat. According to reports furnished 
by commanders of Russian submarines, three 
of the enemy vessels were sunk or damaged 
by mines previously dropped by the wrecked 
vessel. 

Early in the following month Russian naval 
forces came across two enemy light cruisers 
and destroyers on outpost duty between Goth- 
land and Windau. On this occasion the tables 
were turned, and the Germans lost a mine- 
layer. The Albatross, the ship in question, 
was so severely handled that she ran aground 
near Oestergarn, and became a total wreck, 
her consort, the Augsburg, managing to escape 
in the fog. While the Russian squadron con- 

258 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

tinued its course northward, two cruisers, 
four destroyers, and a flotilla of U-boats 
joined battle, but speedily retreated after 
the armoured cruiser Roon had been badly 
damaged. On being reinforced by a battle 
squadron, another attempt was made against 
the Russian vessels, including a spirited sub- 
marine attack on the Rurik. The latter was 
saved by a destroyer, which was reported to 
have sunk one of the hostile underwater craft. 
The 2nd July was a disastrous day for Germany 
in the Baltic. In addition to the Albatross 
she lost a battleship of the Pommern type at 
the hands of Commander Max K. Horton. 1 
On the 30th, E 1 sank a large transport, despite 
a determined effort on the part of the latter 
to run down the attacking party. 

The next happening of importance from the 
point of view of the submarine war was a 
dramatic series of actions at the entrance of 
the Gulf of Riga in the succeeding August. 
These were carried out with the object of 
assisting Hindenburg's land offensive in the 
direction of the great seaport of Riga, whose 

1 See ante, p. 128. 
259 



War in the Underseas 

fall would open the road to Petrograd. The 
weather, mostly calm and foggy, was entirely 
favourable to the enemy, who slipped past 
the patrols and were able to sweep up many 
mines that barred further progress. In this 
dangerous operation it would have been 
nothing short of miraculous had the enemy 
escaped scot-free, and one or two vessels were 
destroyed. The Russian warships put up an 
excellent defence, with the result that the 
attempt to capture the old city of the Merchant- 
Venturers completely failed and the Gulf was 
evacuated. 

Again British submarines were to the fore. 
Commander Noel F. Laurence in E i torpedoed 
the Dreadnought cruiser Moltke in thick 
weather on the 19th. This great vessel of 
23,000 tons, a sister-ship of the more romantic 
Goeben, mounting ten 11-in. guns, was believed 
to have taken part in the infamous raid on 
Scarborough. Although the Moltke did not 
sink, she was sufficiently damaged to be 
placed temporarily out of commission, thereby 
easing the situation for a time by denuding 
Germany of a very formidable fighting machine. 

260 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

Laurence, whose boat had been the first British 
submarine to penetrate the Baltic, narrowly 
escaped having E i rammed on this occasion. 
A torpedo-boat missed her by a few feet only. 
The Tsar acknowledged the officer's services 
by decorating him with the St George's Cross 
of the Fourth Class. 

In this month of August 1915, so big with 
events in the Baltic, the enemy committed a 
flagrant breach of international law by firing 
on the British submarine E 13 while she was 
ashore in Danish territorial waters. The out- 
rage was intensified by the attacking torpedo- 
boat firing shrapnel and bringing machine-guns 
to bear on the members of the crew struggling 
in the water. 

E 13, in charge of Lieutenant-Commander 
Layton, grounded on the island of Saltholm, 
and was given the usual twenty-four hours' 
grace to get off. Long before the time-limit 
had expired a German torpedo-boat let off a 
torpedo at a range of about 300 yards, and 
opened fire with all her other available weapons. 
The torpedo exploded on hitting the bottom, 
close to E 13. Within a few seconds the sub- 

261 



War in the Underseas 

marine was a mass of flame. Unable to offer 
any defence, the officer ordered the crew to 
abandon the ship. Had it not been for the 
intervention of a Danish man-of-war, which 
lowered her boats and steamed between the 
attacker and the attacked, probably not a 
soul would have been saved. 

Fishermen who witnessed the tragedy avowed 
they had never seen any bravery to equal 
that of the helpless crew. When E 13 was 
refloated by the Danish authorities the hull 
was found to be riddled with shells, but her 
colours were still on the charred staff. Fifteen 
bluejackets lost their lives in an attack which 
Sweden's leading newspaper characterized as 
" wilful murder." 

Acting under the orders of the Russian 
Commander-in-Chief, the British boats in the 
Baltic carried on as before. They rendered 
valuable support to the Allies by cutting off 
supplies of timber, ore, and coal consigned to 
the Fatherland, and sinking transports and 
merchantmen whenever bigger prey was un- 
discoverable. " The capture of an enemy's 
merchant ships," as Mr David Hannay has so 

262 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

well said, " is the maritime equivalent for the 
occupation of territory." This active warfare 
was carried out despite vigorous search on the 
part of Zeppelins and seaplanes. 

E — was treated with three bombs from an 
enemy aircraft. Then the latter, apparently 
not satisfied with the result, dropped seven 
more. Sixty minutes later the submarine 
came up to have a look round, and was obliged 
to retreat hurriedly on account of a biplane 
coming toward her at great speed. Five bombs 
followed her passage below. After a lapse of 
forty-five minutes E — again rose to the 
surface. Subsequent events are best related 
by reference to the commander's log : 

Decided to rise and get the gun into action. Got 
under way on a north course at 10 knots with the upper 
deck awash. The biplane was sighted on the starboard 
bow at 6.20 p.m., and we opened fire at 3000 yards. 
The biplane immediately sheered off, and got out of 
range after the eighth round, and then kept three miles 
astern of us. I decided to run north till dark or till the 
aeroplane retired, and then to return under water to 

position. At 7.30 we lost sight of the aeroplane, 

and at 8.30 decided to turn and dive south. Just then 
the aeroplane was sighted. Dived. Heard nine distant 
explosions. Decided to remain down till dark. 

263 



War in the Under seas 

For a month business was bad in the ' big 
event ' line, but things brightened in October, 
although E 19, sighting a German cruiser and 
two escorts outside Danish territorial waters 
off Klintholm Moen, had rather an unpleasant 
ten minutes in trying to hit one of them. The 
large warship opened fire with great prompti- 
tude, while the smaller fry cruised about 
trailing high-explosive charges. E 19 dodged, 
got in a neat shot at one of the torpedo-boats, 
and was rewarded by the knowledge that she 
sank. 

On the 23rd October the cruiser Prinz Adal- 
bert, although escorted by a couple of destroyers, 
one on each bow, was sent to the bottom by a 
British submarine near Libau. Regarding the 
manner of her death, the commander of the 
boat which wrought her destruction has this 
to say : 

Fired bow tube at enemy's fore-bridge. Observed very 
vivid flash of explosion along water-line at point of aim. 
This was immediately followed by very large concussion, 
and entire ship was immediately hidden in huge columns 
of thick grey smoke, fore magazine having evidently 
been exploded by torpedo. 

For some unknown reason a newspaper 
264 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

correspondent's account of the loss of this ship 
was allowed to be sent by the German official 
wireless to New York. The writer asserted 
that the affair took place in hazy weather — 
" ideal conditions for an attack," according to 
the British commander — and that the vessel 
was struck by two torpedoes almost simul- 
taneously. According to him the Prinz Adal- 
bert went down " immediately, like a piece of 
iron." How the following paragraph came to 
be passed by the censor is a greater mystery : 
" The enemy submarines in the Baltic offer a 
difficult problem. The Admiralty is confronted 
with the practically impossible task of keep- 
ing them out. The Admiralty can mine or set 
barrier nets in the Sound between Denmark 
and Sweden only up to the three-mile limit, 
where the neutral waters of the two countries 
begin. The problem is causing the Admiralty 
serious thought." 

The range was some 1300 yards, and the 
" very large concussion " so great that it upset 
the working of the torpedo mechanism of the 
submarine and necessitated the craft's burying 
herself in deep water to avoid injury from the 

265 



War in the Underseas 

great masses of debris that were falling over a 
wide area. The Prinz A dalbert was not wrecked, 
but annihilated. 

The light cruiser Undine was dispatched by 
two torpedoes in three minutes, while convoy- 
ing the steam ferry Preussen from Trelleborg 
to Sassnitz on the 7th November, 1915. The 
first missile missed, and merely put a couple 
of attendant torpedo-boats on the qui vive. 
In attempting to ram the assailant, one of 
them uncovered her charge, with the result 
that the second weapon struck the Undine 
full amidships. The underwater craft, un- 
injured by the withering fire of the discon- 
certed cruiser, ducked and was seen no more. 
As a neutral captain remarked, " the sub- 
marines pop up everywhere, and disappear 
again with an alertness which only an intimate 
knowledge of the waters would allow. Several 
times they have been seen in close proximity 
to the minefield, but they seem to be as much 
at home as in the North Sea." A little later 
the Preussen played into the enemy's hands by 
ramming and sinking her escorting torpedo-boat, 
of whose company only five were picked up. 

266 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

The Flying Dutchman of the Great War was 
surely the German light cruiser Bremen, com- 
pleted in 1904 at the port whose name she 
bore. This little 3200-ton warship, mounting 
ten 4. 1 -in. guns and fourteen smaller weapons, 
was reported from time to time as having been 
seen in the Atlantic, the North Sea, and the 
Pacific. Then she appeared — and disappeared 
■ — in the Baltic. On the 18th December, 1915, 
Berlin admitted her loss, together with a 
torpedo-boat escorting her. This double event 
of the previous day was due to a British 
submarine. 

In May 1916, when the eastern and southern 
parts of the Baltic were once more free from 
ice, British submarines lost no time in renew- 
ing their activity, to the utter discomfiture of 
traders who did not mind running big risks 
for big money. A German convoy was also 
intercepted off the coast of Sweden by Russian 
torpedo-boats, destroyers, and submarines. The 
squadron sank the auxiliary cruiser Konig 
von Sachsen, and set fire to another auxiliary 
ship, the Hermann. The latter was afterward 
blown up by her crew. 

267 



War in the Under seas 

The raid in the Gulf of Finland in November 
1916, again under cover of a fog, showed the 
efficiency of the Russian Baltic Fleet to be still 
unimpaired, but the Revolution achieved what 
the enemy failed to do. " Confusion and 
mistrust prevailed " : in these words Admiral 
Koltchak summed up the whole unhappy 
situation. In October 1917 the German High 
Sea Fleet held the mastery of the Gulf of Riga. 
The most belligerent representative of the 
London Press went frantic because the enemy's 
object had been carried out " without any 
interference from the British Fleet, which, as 
we are accustomed to say, commands the 
sea." Presumably it would have had battle- 
ships and vessels of Sir David Beatty's cele- 
brated ' Cat Class ' forging ahead through the 
entrance, disregarding the imminent likelihood 
of their being sent to the bottom by U-boats 
and mine-fields. The difficulties surmounted by 
underwater craft in penetrating the Baltic, 
to which I have already drawn attention, is 
surely sufficient answer to the most amateur 
of amateur strategists, who, indeed, were some- 
what roughly handled by Sir Eric Geddes in 

268 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

the House of Commons. What it was possible 
for the British Navy to do it achieved. 

On the 23rd it was announced that a British 
submarine had fired two torpedoes at an enemy 
Dreadnought of the Markgraf class mounting 
ten 12-in. guns, with what result was unknown. 
The Germans made it somewhat too hot with 
shells from ships and bombs from seaplanes 
for her commanding officer to wait and see. 
She certainly succeeded in blowing up a big 
transport. 

Opportunity is four-fifths of the battle where 
underwater craft are concerned. As the war 
progressed and Britain learned how to tackle 
those of the enemy, so the Germans gained 
experience in dodging our boats. Three Dread- 
noughts, a light cruiser, and several torpedo- 
craft hailing from Kiel were chased for four 
hours by one of our submarines. Every ounce 
of energy was got out of the motors, but 
never once did she succeed in getting closer 
than eight miles. A decent-sized gun would 
have reached readily enough, but no torpedo 
has ever achieved so distant a range. The 
squadron covered a wide area of sea, frequently 

269 



War in the Underseas 

changed course, and manoeuvred in such a 
way that the British skipper candidly con- 
fessed that his German rival " made use of 
very confusing and successful anti-submarine 
tactics." 

This chapter cannot be other than a faint 
and incomplete outline of happenings in the 
Baltic between 1914 and 1917. The British 
campaign ended in April 1918. When the 
German naval forces and transports approached 
Hango, South-west Finland, four ' E ' and 
three ' C ' boats were taken outside the harbour 
of Helsingfors and blown up. The crews made 
their way, not without difficulty and danger, 
to Petrograd. " Whether it be wise in men 
to do such actions or no," said Sir William 
Temple over two centuries ago, " I am sure it 
is so in States to honour them." 

Russia had gone into ' Committee.' The 
Baltic had ceased to be a battle area. A 
chapter in which the names of Horton, 
Laurence, Goodhart, and Crombie afforded 
something more than a tinge of romance had 
been added to the history books. To quote 
Admiral Kanin, successor to the hard-working 

270 



Certain Happenings in the Baltic 

and reforming von Essen, Russia had been 
" helped extraordinarily by the English sub- 
marines." The boats were " magnificent," the 
officers " fine young fellows." Their bearing 
was " wonderful — and their coolness ! " 



271 



CHAPTER XIV 

Blockading the Blockade 

" This blockade is a complete avowal oj Germany's weak- 
ness." — Lord Robert Cecil. 

SHELLING an enemy is merely a scientific 
way of throwing stones. When a school- 
boy in God's open air is not quite sure of 
the nature of an object, his primitive ancestors 
prompt him to fling something at it ; middle 
age, having the full advantage of civilization, 
pokes it with a stick. 

In naval warfare ' throwing things ' is per- 
fectly legitimate cricket, but mining, which is 
invisible poking, is scarcely recognized as a 
worthy substitute for football. Two or three 
years passed before the last mine was swept 
from the waters that formed the theatre of 
the maritime drama of the Russo-Japanese 
War ; it may take thrice that time to clear 
up the aftermath of the World Conflict. The 
prospect is not pleasant to contemplate. The 
belligerents sowed these murderous canisters 
in many latitudes. Germany, to her lasting 

272 



Blockading the Blockade 

shame, did not always provide the necessary 
apparatus to render them innocuous when they 
broke loose, or for those of the unanchored 
variety to become worthless " one hour at 
most after the person who laid them shall have 
lost control over them," according to Article I 
of the Eighth Convention of The Hague Con- 
ference of 1907. Her favourite trick after a 
naval engagement was to fling floating mines 
overboard in the hope that the pursuing 
fleet would blunder into them. Many thousands 
were scattered along the trade routes. Let me 
hasten to add that in the use of mines Germany 
was well in advance of every other belligerent 
in 1 914. It was weeks before the British Navy 
took advantage of what most salt-water sailors 
regard as a device associated with the dirty, 
low-down trick of hitting below the belt. 

Mines, like their cousin the depth charge, 
played a very important part in combating 
the submarine menace. As Germany showed a 
partiality for them, we did our best to oblige 
her. The most extensive mine-field ever planted 
was sown by Great Britain. It stretched from 
the Orkney Islands to the fringe of the terri- 
s 273 



War in the Under seas 
torial waters of Norway, and covered an area 
of not less than 22,000 square miles. Access 
to the Atlantic, rigidly guarded by the naval 
police of the Patrol, was provided on the 
Scottish side. Other British mine-fields existed 
at the farther end of the North Sea, guarded 
by a hundred or more surface craft, and in 
the neighbourhood of Flanders, Heligoland, 
and Denmark. The object of these vast pro- 
hibited areas was to prevent U-boats from 
gaining easy access to the great ocean routes. 
Germany early laid a mine-field inside the 
Skager-Rack to prevent British submarines from 
entering the Baltic — which it did not do — and 
afterward violated international law by taking 
similar steps in the Cattegat. While the latter 
operation was proceeding, certain of our naval 
forces came across a batch of enemy mine- 
layers at their nefarious task, sank ten of them, 
and rescued their crews. The men ought to 
have been ordered to walk the plank, pour 
encourager les autres, as Voltaire said of Admiral 
Byng's execution. 

Britain's bold bid to foil the U-boats was 
undertaken, in the words of the official explana- 

274 



Blockading the Blockade 

tion, " in view of the unrestricted warfare 
carried on by Germany at sea by means of 
mines and submarines, not only against the 
Allied Powers, but also against neutral ship- 
ping," and because merchant ships were 
" constantly sunk without regard to the ulti- 
mate safety of their crews." The big northern 
mine-field proved very useful. That was why 
the enemy immediately started a loud-mouthed 
campaign in neutral countries in the hope of 
inciting their Governments to protest against 
an effective method of warfare decidedly pre- 
judicial to the German cause. 

A word or two about the surface barrage 
maintained across the Channel. Every day and 
night, ceaselessly and relentlessly, in fair weather 
and foul, over a hundred armed patrolling 
craft of various sorts and sizes kept sentinel 
at the great southern gateway, and enabled 
troops and munitions to cross the drawbridge 
from England to France. It was not so diffi- 
cult a task during the day as at night. When 
darkness fell the guard burned flares that made 
the passage of a submarine travelling on the 
surface an exceedingly dangerous undertaking. 

275 



War in the Under seas 

If a U-boat tried the underwater route, there 
were other means of obstruction quite as deadly 
as the methods of the fire-breathing trawlers. 
There is no truth in the yarn that a steel net 
stretched across the Straits of Dover, thereby 
guaranteeing with more or less certainty the 
immunity of transports from attack by under- 
water vessels. 

The fisherman's device for catching mem- 
bers of the finny tribe was, of course, applied 
to submarines. Long nets with meshes ten 
or fifteen feet square proved of great service 
when the war was young. Dropped in the 
course of an approaching U-boat, the prob- 
ability was that she would poke her nose into 
it and find extreme difficulty in getting out. 
Subsequently cutters were fitted to the enemy's 
craft, but nothing could eliminate the move- 
ment of the net, which was supported on the 
surface by small buoys or planks. Moored 
nets with mines attached boded no good to 
the submarine that was unfortunate enough to 
encounter the obstacle. 

An enemy commander found that his boat 
was towing a red buoy, and shortly afterward 

276 



Blockading the Blockade 

that she was entangled in wire-netting. " For 
an hour and a half," he relates, " the netting 
carried us with it, and although I made every 
effort to get clear of it, rising and then sinking 
with the object of getting to the bottom of 
the netting, it was all in vain, for we were 
always dragged back, sometimes to the right 
and sometimes to the left." By increasing 
the weight of water in the tanks the U-boat 
managed to tear the netting. She remained 
under water for eighteen hours, came up and 
found patrol craft in the vicinity, and was 
compelled to descend for another six hours. 
After a further look round, the officer adds, " I 
remained submerged for two hours, then slowly 
turned outward, and at a distance of some fifty 
yards from the leading enemy craft passed toward 
the open sea. At nine o'clock in the evening 
we were able to rise to the surface in safety." 

The arming of traders gave the Central 
Powers furiously to think, especially as the 
policy was a perfectly natural sequel to their 
own misdoings. Details of the calibre of guns 
mounted by ships of the British Mercantile 
Marine were withheld from Parliament as " not 

277 



War in the Under seas 

in the public interest." The French Minister 
of Marine was more communicative. At the 
end of 1 917 every French merchantman was 
armed with two 3.7-in. guns. International 
law held that trading vessels during war-time 
must be stopped and searched before further 
action could be taken. Exceptional circum- 
stances alone justified the sinking even of an 
enemy vessel, the usual practice being to 
conduct the captive to port, the final disposal 
being settled in the Prize Court. Neutral 
ships could in no circumstances be destroyed. 
Germany's difficulty was that it was next to 
impossible for a submarine to follow this 
programme, which she herself had recognized 
previous to the advent of the U-boat. While 
the process of search was going on, a neces- 
sarily slow and tedious task, ten to one a 
patrol boat would appear on the scene and 
show an untoward amount of inquisitiveness. 
The natural development of blockade by sub- 
marine was via the line of least resistance. 
Rules and rights, obligations and understand- 
ings must go by the board. The word illegiti- 
mate was wiped out. From naval virtue to 

278 



Blockading the Blockade 

piracy is but a step ; the enemy took it. She 
would sink at sight. 

As a direct consequence of the arming of 
merchantmen there was an increase in the 
number of submerged attacks and a decrease 
in the use of the gun on the part of the sub- 
marine. This was entirely to the good, because 
it necessitated more frequent visits to the base 
to replenish depleted magazines. 

Elsewhere I have dealt at length with the 
wonderful way in which the men of the 
Merchant Service settled down to the altered 
condition of affairs. 1 The crews showed as 
much faith in their solitary weapon mounted 
in the stern as a gun-layer of the Queen Eliza- 
beth believed in the giant organs of destruction 
housed in the fore turret. They achieved 
wonders with the little spitfires, though some- 
times their confidence was misplaced. Un- 
certainty is the only certainty in war. 

Lest I should be accused of being a devotee 
of mere drum and trumpet history, let me relate 
the story of a failure. At a few minutes to 

1 Daring Deeds of Merchant Seamen in the Great War 
(Harrap, 191 8). 

279 



War in the Under seas 

3 a.m., in squally and heavy weather, the 
captain of a merchantman made out the form 
of a U-boat right ahead. His attempt to ram 
missed by a few feet. Putting the helm hard 
over to bring the submarine astern, he ordered 
the gun to be brought into action. The first 
shot looked as though it had struck the evil 
thing. But the bursting shell failed to check 
the enemy, despite what the master called " a 
big, bright flare-up." A little later he observed 
what he presumed to be the wake of a torpedo, 
followed by the appearance of the U-boat 
travelling parallel to the steamer. Again the 
gun was fired, and again achieved nothing. 
As the darkness made range-finding exceedingly 
difficult, and the flash of the cordite betrayed 
the position of the steamer, the captain gave 
orders to cease fire, and sent every available 
man to the stokehold. What the trusted gun 
had failed to do the engines might achieve. 
He then told the steward to get coffee. What 
a delightful human touch ! It reminds one of 
Nelson writing a prayer when within sight of 
the Combined Fleet, and of Sturdee shaving 
before giving battle to von Spee. 

280 



Blockading the Blockade 

At 6.20 a.m. a torpedo struck the port side 
of the steamer, the boilers burst, and ship and 
gun disappeared in a welter of steam, smoke, 
and flame. The survivors were picked up a 
few hours later. But don't think for one 
moment that they blamed their armament. 
They attributed their failure to unfortunate 
weather conditions. 

Now for a more pleasing picture. A U-boat 
tried to torpedo the Nyanza, an American 
steamer with an Imperial name, at a range of 
approximately iooo yards. By quick manipu- 
lation of the helm the tin fish was skilfully 
dodged, and the ship's gun opened fire. The 
submarine thereupon brought two guns to 
bear on the vessel. The running fight con- 
tinued for two and a half hours, and was ended 
by four shots from the Nyanza. The enemy 
visibly staggered, slowly heeled over, and is 
now gathering rust and barnacles on the ocean 
floor. 

The first of all anti-submarine appliances is 
the human eye. " It is seven to three on the 
ship if the submarine is sighted, and four to 
one against it if it is not," says Sir Eric Geddes. 

281 



War in the Underseas 

In every British merchant vessel of 2500 gross 
tonnage and upward, four men possessing the 
special Board of Trade certificate as to eye- 
sight were required to act as look-outs at 
the masthead or elsewhere in areas in which 
U-boats were likely to be encountered. They 
kept watch in turn for not more than two hours, 
and although not necessarily additional mem- 
bers of the crew, were specially engaged and 
received extra pay. 

The necessity for keeping a keen look-out 
was early recognized. The Admiralty offered 
a reward not exceeding £1000 for information 
leading to the capture or destruction of an 
enemy vessel, including a mine-layer or sub- 
marine, and a sum up to £200 for infor- 
mation leading to the craft being sighted and 
chased. Prominent shipowners and other patri- 
otic citizens aided and abetted these rewards by 
offering various sums to the captain and crew 
of the first British merchantman who sank a 
U-boat. 

In due course the idea of ' camouflage ' was 
borrowed from the Army. In military cam- 
paigns the ingenious daubing of guns with 

282 



Blockading the Blockade 

paint that harmonized with the colours of the 
surrounding scenery became, if not high art, 
a most skilful artistic device. It was found 
impossible to make ships invisible at sea, but 
much was done to render them considerably 
less conspicuous . The constantly changing light 
defeated every plan that had invisibility for its 
aim. 

While it is a wise thing to consume one's 
own smoke, steamers are unable to do so. 
Smoke is an excellent tell-tale. On the other 
hand it was not always a friend of the enemy. 
Destroyers in battle often put up a smoke- 
screen sufficiently dense to cover battleships 
and cruisers — it was a marked device of the 
German fleet at Jutland — and many a 'black 
gang ' in the stokehold have saved their ship 
by its means. Boxes filled with smoke-making 
powder that burnt slowly and gave off black 
clouds when flung in the sea have enabled 
many a vessel to escape behind a dense pall. 
They played their part in the daring raids 
on Ostend and Zeebrugge. Special smoke- 
funnels for use on board were also introduced 
with success. The Compagnie Transatlantique 

283 



War in the Under seas 

liner L<? Gard escaped from two U-boats by 
means of this system. 

On those rare occasions when an unsuspect- 
ing U-boat popped up under the very nose 
of a patrol boat the lance-bomb proved a 
thoroughly efficient weapon. It consisted of 
a 14-lb. bomb that exploded on contact, placed 
on the end of a shaft some 6 feet in length. 
An expert thrower could hurl this naval hand- 
grenade quite a fair distance and with splendid 
precision. A destroyer or chaser towing ex- 
plosive charges at breakneck speed was a sure 
and certain harbinger of death should a 
marauder happen to be in the way. 

Armed yachts and fast motor-boats dis- 
played their sea-keeping qualities as never 
before, and to these were added capacities as 
auxiliary righting vessels. One of the former 
picked up an S O S signal. The sender proved 
to be a trader, and at no great distance from 
her was a periscope. The enemy was just a 
little too late in getting under, for the ' eye ' 
had scarcely disappeared when the yacht cut 
right across her back. A couple of depth 
charges were thrown out to complete the 

284 



Blockading the Blockade 

business, and the yacht was swung round to 
cross the spot again after the explosion had sub- 
sided, when a peculiar disturbance was noticed 
in another direction. A third depth charge 
added considerably to the turmoil. As the 
sailors watched a human form came to the 
surface. The ' peculiar disturbance ' was doubt- 
less the death-rattle of the U-boat, and 
as she broke in halves the solitary survivor 
was flung up. He did not live to relate his 
terrible experience. 

The celebrated submarine-chasers, while they 
varied in design, were usually stubby craft 
mounting a remarkably serviceable quick-firer 
on a high forecastle and carrying a liberal 
supply of ' pills ' in the stern. As the range 
of the former was about three and a half miles, 
and the engines were capable of attaining a speed 
of thirty or more knots an hour in calm weather, 
a submarine was at considerable disadvantage 
unless she managed to deliver the first blow. 
Should a U-boat consider it worth while to risk 
a fight on the surface or attempt to torpedo 
the ' weasel ' from below, the speed of the 
chaser was obviously her greatest asset. Italian 

285 



War in the Under seas 

chasers, by the way, resembled small submarines, 
minus the conning-tower ; those of France were 
very similar to our own. When the United 
States entered the war one of President Wilson's 
first measures was to order the construction of 
a large number of these vessels. 

Many of the motor launches in the Service 
were commanded by former amateur yachts- 
men, who soon became hardy seafarers. Pluck, 
energy, and resource characterized their hazard- 
ous work. " Day after day, year after year," 
as a senior naval officer reports, "they have 
kept the sea in the worst weather when 
other craft have had to run for shelter." 
One story must suffice as typical of many 
others. 

Three motor launches of the Auxiliary Patrol 
were forging ahead one morning when a look- 
out saw certain movements known as ' white 
feathers,' sure indications of the presence of 
a U-boat. The Germans led them many miles 
afield in their effort to escape. The launches 
hung on, and gradually worked themselves into 
a position which cornered the submersible. 
Overboard went several depth charges, followed 

286 



Blockading the Blockade 

by convulsions and the end of the ' spasm ' — 
naval for submarine chase. 

Several ingenious inventions having sound 
as their basis were introduced. Of these the 
microphone, enabling the listener to detect the 
rhythm of submarine motors when submerged, 
is undoubtedly the most important. The tele- 
metriste and the hydrophone, somewhat similar 
contrivances, were fitted on certain ships of the 
French Navy. 

The convoy system of gathering together a 
group of merchantmen and conducting them 
through the danger zone was merely the revival 
of a venerable institution. Its modern applica- 
tion met with considerably greater success 
than was often evident in the past. The First 
Dutch War of 1652-4, for instance, consisted 
very largely, so far as England was concerned, 
of attacks on convoys. The necessity for pro- 
tecting them was responsible for four of the seven 
battles fought. 

Beginning in a comparatively small way, 
the idea of shepherding merchant shipping 
was gradually enlarged until few vessels sailed 
overseas unattended. The system was extra- 

287 



War in the Under seas 

ordinarily successful. Before it was intro- 
duced nearly 10 per cent, of Britain's food 
ships were sent to the bottom by an enemy 
bent on starving England into submission. 
When the vessels were assembled and pro- 
tected only i per cent, was lost, and 26,000,000 
tons of foodstuffs were brought over from 
different parts of the world, in addition to 
35,000,000 tons of munitions of various kinds. 
The whole of the Argentine wheat crop was 
transported to Great Britain, France, and Italy 
in 307 ships, of which only one was lost through 
enemy action. 

The celebrated ' Q ' ships are mystery ships 
no longer. The idea of these decoy vessels 
was obviously suggested by the raider Mowe, 
which resembled a tramp and was really a 
powerfully armed righting unit of the German 
Navy, as many a captain of the Mercantile 
Marine found to his cost. Officered and manned 
by volunteers, the avowal of Sir Eric Geddes 
that the crews were made up of " the very 
bravest that our sea service can produce " was 
more than a mere figure of speech. No fewer 
than eight of their commanders won the V.C. 

288 



Blockading the Blockade 
Some of the Q class were sailing ships, 
others looked like colliers or aged cargo boats ; 
all resembled slow-going, nondescript tubs likely 
to attract the fond attention of the Germans. 
When a submarine appeared and called upon 
the captain to surrender, a special ' panic party ' 
would abandon ship in a terrible state of con- 
sternation. They showed beyond doubt that 
the U-boat campaign had put the fear of the 
Hun in their hearts. Sometimes the poor fools 
of Englishmen were not given an opportunity 
to get away. Fire was opened on the innocent 
babe without palaver. The panic party would 
then go frantic with terror, try to launch the 
boats, occasionally upsetting one in their haste 
to get away, or leaving it dangling like a skeleton 
on a gibbet. Not until the submersible popped 
up alongside or presented a ' dead certain ' 
target was the true nature of the vessel revealed. 
Sometimes the ship was torpedoed, shelled, set 
on fire, and sunk almost to the water's edge 
before the captain deemed that the psycho- 
logical moment had arrived. Then flaps 
dropped that uncovered guns guaranteed by 
Woolwich to sink the stoutest submersible 
t 289 



War in the Under seas 

afloat, bullets spat from chicken coops, and 
hell was let loose on the surprised enemy. 
The story of the Q ships is full of dramatic 
incidents, but words fail to describe the agony 
of waiting for action or the cool courage of the 
men who went through strange performances 
to order when under fire. 

H.M.S. Stock Force was a steam mystery 
ship of only 360 tons. What she lacked in 
size she more than made up for in impudence. 
On the 30th July, 1918, at 5 p.m. by the captain's 
chronometer, a torpedo struck her abreast No. I 
hatch. Her stubby nose was blown off, its 
component parts and contents hurled sky-high, 
and the bridge completely wrecked. This was 
a bad beginning, particularly as several of the 
crew of the foremost guns were wounded. 
One poor fellow was pinned under the weapon 
it was his duty to serve when occasion arose, 
and there he remained throughout the action. 
A few seconds later lumps of iron, planks, and 
unexploded shells flung up from the fore part 
of the ship by the force of the explosion fell 
on deck and added to the injuries already sus- 
tained by the ratings, at the same time wound- 

290 



Blockading the Blockade 

ing the first lieutenant and the navigating 
officer. As the vessel began to settle down 
forward the panic party pushed off. Although 
the lower deck was flooded, the surgeon got 
to work standing up to his waist in water, 
and the engine-room staff went on with their 
labours. The captain and two guns' crews 
alone had nothing to do at the moment beyond 
keeping themselves out of sight. Sometimes 
waiting is the hardest of all tasks. 

The attacking U-boat behaved in a most 
irritating way. She came to the surface 
straight ahead, and showed no immediate 
intention of approaching nearer. Meanwhile 
the Stock Force was going down. There was 
not the slightest doubt about that. It was 
then that the panic party played their second 
act. They began to row back to the ship, 
hoping to entice the enemy nearer. The U-boat 
swallowed the bait, approaching slowly. When 
she was abeam, up went the White Ensign, 
the contraptions fell away, and two guns 
crashed out. Three rounds smashed the 
conning-tower, felled a periscope, and tore a 
great rent in the hull on the water-line. Several 

291 



War in the Under seas 

Germans were blown out through the hole, 
while the officer on watch got a sudden rise 
in the world. 

As the water rushed into the stricken U-boat 
her bows rose, to be instantly subjected to a 
terrific bombardment. Then she disappeared. 
Her assailant kept afloat until 9.25 p.m. 
Officers and men were taken off by torpedo- 
boats and a trawler. 

For nearly half an hour after the panic party 
had pulled away from H.M.S. Prize, another 
Q ship, the guns' crews were lying face 
downward on the deck subjected to heavy fire 
from a U-boat. When the enemy came abeam 
the schooner's weapons were revealed in no 
uncertain fashion. The action was over in 
four minutes. One shell shattered the fore- 
most gun of the U-boat, killing everybody 
near it. Another wrecked the conning-tower, 
and the interior of the craft became a mass of 
flame. Three survivors were rescued, though 
how they escaped passes understanding. The 
Prize had been so badly holed that she looked 
like following her victim. Q boats, however, 
were built to stand a lot of knocking about. 

292 



Blockading the Blockade 

More often than not they were severely handled 
before they got an opportunity to retaliate. 
On this particular occasion every available 
man turned carpenter or lent a hand with the 
pumps. The nearest port was 120 miles off. 
The Q ship sailed to within five miles of the 
' haven where she would be ' before accepting 
assistance. She was then given a friendly tow 
by a nimble little motor-launch. 

The following is the official account of what 
happened to H.M.S. Q 5 on the 17th February 
1917, after she had been torpedoed abreast of 
No. 3 hold. The chief hero of the exploit was 
Commander Gordon Campbell, who had been 
awarded the D.S.O. for sinking a U-boat when 
in command of H.M.S. Farnborough nearly a 
year before. 

Action stations were sounded and the ' panic party ' 
abandoned ship. The engineer officer reported that the 
engine-room was flooding, and was ordered to remain at 
his post as long as possible, which he and his staff, 
several of whom were severely wounded, most gallantly 
did. The submarine was observed on the starboard 
quarter 200 yards distant, watching the proceedings 
through his periscope. He ran past the ship on the 
starboard side so closely that the whole hull was visible 
beneath the surface, finally emerging about 300 yards 

293 



War in the Under seas 

off on the port bow. The enemy came down the port 
side of the ship, and fire was withheld until all guns 
could bear at point-blank range. The first shot be- 
headed the captain of the submarine as he was climbing 
out of the conning-tower, and the submarine finally 
sank with conning-tower open and crew pouring out. 
One officer and one man were rescued on the surface 
and taken prisoner, after which the boats were recalled, 
and all hands proceeded to do their utmost to keep the 
ship afloat. A wireless signal for assistance had been 
sent out when (but not until) the fate of the submarine 
was assured, and a destroyer and sloop arrived a couple 
of hours later, and took Q 5 in tow. She was finally 
beached in safety the following evening. 

The action may be regarded as the supreme test of 
naval discipline. The chief engineer and engine-room 
watch remained at their posts to keep the dynamo 
working until driven out by the water, then remaining 
concealed on top of the cylinders. The guns' crews 
had to remain concealed in their gun-houses for 
nearly half an hour, while the ship slowly sank lower in 
the water. 

One such adventure would suffice most men. 
Not so Commander Gordon Campbell. He 
was ' at it again ' in August 19 17, when in 
command of another Q ship, the Dunraven. 
This particular vessel was ostensibly an armed 
British trader. On the U-boat beginning the 
action, the undisguised stern gun was brought 
into play, the speed of the ship reduced so that 

294 



Blockading the Blockade 

the submarine might overtake her, and wireless 
calls for help were sent out. She caught fire 
aft, in the vicinity of a magazine, above which 
was a concealed gun with its crew ready for 
immediate service. Shortly after the panic 
party left the vessel the magazine exploded, 
starting the electric gongs that signalled 
' Action ' at the other gun positions. This 
was unfortunate, for only one weapon could 
be brought to bear on the enemy, then in the 
act of submerging. Although the Dunraven 
was on fire, a wireless code message was sent 
to warn approaching traffic not to intervene. 
After two torpedoes had struck the vessel a 
second panic party abandoned ship, leaving 
the guns unmasked. Apparently not a soul 
remained on board, but the commander of the 
submarine was evidently not quite sure. For 
nearly an hour he regarded discretion as the 
better part of valour. He merely watched and 
waited for the ship to blow up or go down. As 
the mystery ship did neither, the U-boat 
pounded her for twenty minutes, then slowly 
passed at a distance of about 150 yards. A 
torpedo fired by the Dunraven missed by a 

295 



War in the Underseas 
hair-breadth, but was apparently unperceived. 
A second torpedo was tried as the enemy 
returned on the other side. That likewise 
failed. Uncertain as to the next proceeding 
of her astonishing antagonist, the U-boat 
made off. When destroyers arrived on the 
scene the fire on the gallant little ship was got 
under, and a valiant attempt made to keep 
her afloat. She eventually succumbed to bad 
weather. But what a career, and what superb 
courage ! You will not meet the like in 
fiction. 

These wonderful mystery ships, that took 
such a lot of sinking, that purposely courted 
trouble to entice their aggressors into the same, 
were no ordinary vessels. Externally, as I 
have said, they resembled rusty old tramps ; 
internally they were built for battering. Iron 
girders gave them additional strength, and 
bales of cork served to check the shock of a 
torpedo and keep them afloat. No wonder 
Fritz got scared and threw up the game ! 



296 



CHAPTER XV 

Bottling up Zeebrugge and Ostend 

" Their Lordships desire to express to all ranks and ratings 
concerned in the recent gallant and successful enterprise on the 
Belgian coast their high admiration of the perfect co-operation 
displayed, and of the single-minded determination of all to 
achieve their object. The disciplined daring and singular con- 
tempt of death exhibited by those who were assigned the posts of 
greatest danger places this exploit high in the annals of the Royal 
Navy and Royal Marines, and will be a proud memory for the 
relatives of those who fell." — General Order to the Fleet. 

PREVENTION is better than cure, even 
in the Navy. To bottle up the U-boats 
was obviously a far quicker way of ridding 
the sea of the vermin than scouring the ocean 
highway for them. It required no effort of 
genius to come to that conclusion. But how ? 
Many minds had puzzled over the problem 
and evolved all kinds of devices for the purpose, 
most of them more ingenious than practical. 
Zeebrugge and Ostend were within a com- 
paratively few miles of the Essex coast, and 
from these ports there issued U-boats that 
played the part of maritime highwaymen 
every hour of the twenty-four, and surface 

297 



War in the Underseas 
craft that stole along in the darkness of night 
and raided the Straits. The importance 
attached by the enemy to Zeebrugge and 
Ostend was so great that they said they would 
never give them up. That defiant attitude, 
suggestive of a rude little boy putting his 
fingers to his nose in token of profound dis- 
respect, was calculated to make every British 
son all the more determined that the Germans 
should be compelled to clear out. 

Napoleon I quite rightly regarded Antwerp 
as a pistol held at the heart of England ; when 
William II ravished Belgium he brought his 
weapons nearer still. Under German domina- 
tion Zeebrugge and Ostend became vastly im- 
portant bases for submarines and torpedo- 
boats. Together they formed a veritable 
pirates' lair. From time to time since August 
19 14 they had been heavily bombarded by the 
Navy and from the air, but always with sur- 
prisingly little effect on their fiendish activities. 
Warships came and warships went, tons of 
high explosive shells and bombs were rained 
on them, until one dismally surmised that they 
must be invulnerable. 

298 




C 3 at Zeebrugge Mole 

An old British submarine, loaded with explosives, was run into the piles of 

the jetty at the shore end of Zeebrueige Mole and blown up, to the amazement 

and destruction of the defenders. 



298 



Zeebrugge and Ostend 

Zeebrugge was the more important because 
it was directly connected by canal with 
medieval Bruges. Previous to the outbreak 
of hostilities the City of the Golden Fleece 
was a sort of Sleepy Hollow kept awake by 
its carillon and tourists. The German invaders 
transformed the place into a naval arsenal. 
Torpedo-boats and submarines found shelter 
in the port, making their entry and exit via 
Zeebrugge Harbour, with its broad mole ex- 
tending about a mile and a half seaward. 
The latter was connected with the shore by 
a wooden jetty of enormous strength. This 
arrangement prevented the harbour from silt- 
ing up, which otherwise it would have done. 
The long concrete arm sheltering the canal 
was something more than a mere breakwater. 
It had been converted into a fort, with batteries 
and machine-guns, seaplane hangars and stores, 
and was strongly garrisoned. No fewer than 
120 guns guarded the littoral of Zeebrugge and 
Ostend. 

Could the ports be sealed, despite the diffi- 
culties presented by the treacherous nature of 
the coast, the mine-fields that shielded them, 

299 



War in the Underseas 

the batteries that bristled on the sand-dunes, 
the aircraft that kept watch and ward, the 
warships that lay in hiding ? The question 
was entertained seriously by Rear-Admiral Sir 
Reginald Tyrwhitt. There seemed to be little 
likelihood at that date that the Army would 
achieve the result by military means, and so 
if these places were to be rendered useless as 
sea bases the task, it was clear, must be accom- 
plished by the Navy. 

The scheme was laid before Sir John Jellicoe, 
at that time First Sea Lord, and given to Vice- 
Admiral Roger Keyes, in command at Dover, 
to carry out. We have already met the latter 
as Commodore of Submarines in August 1914 ; 
he now returned to a task he had undertaken 
on a much smaller scale in 1900, during the 
Boxer Rebellion in China. With a dozen men 
he stormed a fort and blew it up, despite the 
opinion of some of his seniors that the attempt 
was little more than a forlorn hope. While 
he and his associates were planning the multi- 
tudinous details of the Zeebrugge-Ostend ex- 
pedition, the memory of the former ' impossible ' 
task must have crossed his mind more than 

300 



Zeebrugge and Ostend 
once. Here was an operation ten thousand 
times more difficult, requiring the most minute 
calculations, an efficient fighting force, a con- 
siderable fleet, and an exact time-table. 
Chinamen can fight, and fight desperately, 
but the garrison Keyes purposed to attack 
was officered and manned by the German 
Army, and the place defended by the most 
modern weapons. 

The resources that Keyes asked for were a 
covering force, half a dozen obsolete cruisers 
— there is sometimes a good deal of ' kick ' in 
a ship marked for the scrap-heap — a couple of 
ferry-boats, and a number of auxiliary vessels. 
Of the six old-timers, five were to be filled with 
concrete and sunk in such a position that 
navigation would be blocked (hence the term 
block-ships) and one was to land the main 
storming party ; the ferry-boats were to convey 
additional fighting men, and the auxiliaries 
were to pick up any survivors there might be. 
For mark this : the desperate nature of the 
enterprise made annihilation possible. None 
expected to get back, but all had made up 
their minds to dam up the raiders. That was 

301 



War in the Underseas 

the sole and sufficient object of the expedition. 
It formed part of no invasion project. 

There was urgency but no hurry, a naval 
paradox which meant that while the Service 
fully realized the importance of bottling up 
the U-boats, it also understood that delay 
in executing the operation was preferable to 
a tragic anti-climax. Twice the armada set 
out and returned without having accomplished 
its purpose. On St George's Day 1918 Keyes 
and his men showed their mettle in the most 
dashing naval exploit of the Great Conflict. 

The cruiser Vindictive, accompanied by the 
Daffodil and the Iris, both Mersey ferry-boats, 
carried storming and demolition parties of 
bluejackets and ' jollies,' all picked men. The 
Vindictive, armed with various species of things 
Satanic, was to focus the attention of the enemy. 
The Intrepid, the Iphigenia, and the Thetis, 
cargoed with concrete, were to be sunk by 
explosives detonated from their respective 
bridges in the channels and entrances to 
Zeebrugge ; the Brilliant and the Sirius were 
to perform similar operations at Ostend. 

The night was hazy and overcast. Naviga- 
302 



Zeebrugge and Ostend 
tion in mined waters is not easy, but there were 
no casualties. As the Vindictive and her 
consorts headed for Zeebrugge Harbour they 
shrouded themselves in a smoke-screen so 
dense that the strongest search-light could not 
penetrate it. Everything went splendidly 
until the old cruiser and the ferry-boats were 
just off the mole. Then the wind turned Hun. 
The star-shells and search-lights that suddenly 
awakened, lighting up the harbour almost as 
though it were day, revealed the visitors to 
the enemy. Batteries thundered, machine- 
guns on the mole awoke to life, shells burst 
above, about, and on the incoming cruiser. 
In addition to the immediate din the boom of 
the guns of the supporting monitors and of 
siege guns in Flanders could be heard. The 
Vindictive held on her way through the inferno 
as though the reception was nothing more 
formidable than fireworks sent up to welcome 
her. 

Commander Alfred F. B. Carpenter, standing 
on the exposed bridge of the cruiser, brought 
the bows of his ship alongside the mole, while 
the Daffodil ran a grave risk of bursting her 

303 



War in the Under seas 

boilers in a giant effort to shove her stern in. 
As the parapet of the mole was thirty feet high 
the Vindictive had been fitted with a temporary 
deck, from whence eighteen gangways were 
speedily run out. Before they had ordered 
their men to land both Colonel Elliot, of the 
Marines, and Captain H. C. Halahan, who was 
to lead the sailors, were lying dead. When 
the word was given the fighters moved down 
the brows in face of a withering fire, an opera- 
tion made more difficult by the rolling of the 
ship in a heavy swell. Many were killed 
and wounded as they attempted to land. 
Lieutenant H. T. C. Walker, with one arm 
blown off, was trodden under before he could 
be dragged away. " Good luck I " he yelled, 
" good luck ! " 

The howitzer mounted forward in the Vin- 
dictive was fed and fought with uncanny 
precision, though two crews were wiped out. 
In the foretop a solitary man alone remained 
to work one of the Lewis guns, and he was 
grievously wounded. Near by, sitting in a 
little cabin, a mere landsman fired rockets for 
the guidance of the block-ships with as little 

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Zeebrugge and Ostend 

concern as if he were managing a benefit 
performance at the Crystal Palace. Com- 
mander Carpenter's coolness was infectious. 
There was no ' panic party,' real or fancied, on 
this mystery ship. The Daffodil, still holding 
the cruiser in position, was ordered to maintain 
her station and withhold landing her storming 
party. The Iris, owing to the failure of her 
grapnels to grip the parapet, fell astern of the 
cruiser, though Lieutenant-Commander Brad- 
ford and Lieutenant Hawkins clambered up 
and tried to fix them, sitting at work on the 
wall until they were shot dead. 

The Thetis, with a nucleus crew — the others 
had been taken off by motor-boats — approached 
the mole, but failed to reach it. One of her 
propellers got entangled in a steel defence net. 
Becoming unmanageable, she struck the edge 
of a shoal and refused to budge. Shell after 
shell crashed against her old sides, but it was not 
until she was virtually a wreck that Commander 
R. S. Sneyd, D.S.O., exploded the charges in 
her hold and sank her. Then he signalled the 
course to the other ships. 

The Intrepid and the Iphigenia came bowling 
u 305 



War in the Underseas 
along, sorry for their consort's ill-luck but 
anxious only to get on with the immediate 
task in hand. Lieutenant S. Bonham-Carter 
beached the Intrepid on the muddy spot 
marked as her grave, blew a great hole in her 
side, and was smilingly told by the chief 
engineer, who had remained below, that 
the performance was eminently satisfactory. 
Surely that engineer was the embodiment of 
dignity and impudence, that peculiar combina- 
tion that marks the true Briton. Lieutenant 
E. W. Billyard-Leake, in command of the 
Ifthigenia, also entered the canal and carried 
out his task with splendid efficiency. Both 
ships were sunk about 200 yards up the 
fairway. 

The officers and men of the block-ships were 
picked up with conspicuous gallantry by perky 
little motor-launches that were all the while 
subjected to the attention of land batteries as 
they bustled about their business. Lieutenant 
Bonham-Carter sent away his boats before 
leaving the ship, trusting to a Carley float for 
his own salvation. The calcium flare, which is 
an integral part of this apparatus, showed him 

306 



Zeebrugge and Ostend 
up to the Germans, who kindly turned on a 
machine-gun for his special benefit. Probably 
the smoke from his own vessel saved him. He 
was subsequently picked up by a launch. 

The most dramatic incident was yet to come. 
Suddenly the shore end of the mole was lit up 
by a sheet of livid flame that seemed to sear 
the sky. C 3, an old submarine commanded 
by Lieutenant R. D. Sandford, R.N., had been 
jammed into the great piles that supported 
the jetty. No ordinary submarine this, but 
one loaded with several tons of high explosive. 
Her little crew of heroes got away in a boat 
before the charge was fired, but not before the 
craft had been driven right home. The ex- 
plosion severed the communications of the 
mole with the shore, a break 60 feet wide being 
effected. The Germans crowding the wooden 
structure were blown to bits. 

The landing parties, working under a galling 
fire, blew up buildings, destroyed gun-emplace- 
ments, and did as much damage as was possible 
before being recalled. Not a few of the enemy 
felt the cold steel of British bayonets, and at 
least two of their guns were captured and 

307 



War in the Under seas 

turned on them. Fifty minutes elapsed before 
the siren of the Vindictive sounded for the men 
to return. 

The operation against Ostend was not so 
successful. Owing to the change of wind the 
Sirius and the Brilliant were revealed by means 
of the calcium flares lit to guide them, which 
had previously been hidden by the smoke- 
cloud. These lights were promptly extin- 
guished by the enemy's gunners. Unable to 
find the entrance, the two ships grounded 
east of the piers, and were there sunk. 

Taking all things into consideration, the 
casualties in these two dare-devil actions were 
small, although they totalled over 600. Vice- 
Admiral Keyes, who was present in the destroyer 
Warwick, was knighted in recognition of his 
distinguished service, and Commander Alfred 
F. B. Carpenter was promoted to Captain and 
received the V.C. Sandford, of C 3, Lieutenant 
P. T. Dean, R.N.V.R., who performed wonders 
in rescuing men from the Intrepid and the 
Iphigenia, Captain E. Bamford, D.S.O., who 
landed three platoons of the Marines on the 
mole, Sergeant N. A. Finch, who fought in the 

308 



Zeebrugge and Ostend 
foretop of the Vindictive, and Able Seaman 
A. E. Mackenzie, who worked a machine-gun 
in an exposed position, were also decorated 
with the Victoria Cross. 

Battle-scarred and holed in many places, 
the Vindictive was patched up at Dover for a 
final exploit. The British Navy does not like 
leaving things half done. The affair at Ostend 
had miscarried through sheer bad luck. It 
must be completed. In the early hours of the 
morning of the ioth May, 1918, the brave old 
cruiser, now rigged up as a block-ship, faced 
15-in. guns and found the entrance, though 
twice she lost her way. She got a terrible 
pasting from the defenders of the port. The 
after-control was wiped out, the conning-tower 
struck by a heavy shell. On reaching the 
eastern pier she swung round to an angle 
of about forty degrees to the structure, the 
charges were fired, and she settled down. The 
casualties reached 136 officers and men. 

That these stirring episodes in the War in 
the Underseas aided and abetted in the final 
surrender of the U-boats in November 1918 
cannot be doubted. 

309 



CHAPTER XVI 

The Great Collapse 

" The Board of Admiralty desire to express to the officers and 
men of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines on the completion of 
their great work their congratulations on a triumph to which 
history knows no parallel." 

THEY came in flying the White Ensign, 
which was the cleanest thing about 
them. Only a few weeks before the 
commanders of these same bedraggled U-boats 
had boasted of defying the world ; now they 
had been brought to heel like a pack of whipped 
curs. German officers and men were taking 
part in the biggest collapse in naval history ; 
their conquerors in the greatest triumph. At 
Beatty's bidding they meekly surrendered their 
piratical craft at the rate of a score a day for 
a week or more. The bluejackets at Harwich 
rechristened the Stour " U-boat Avenue " when 
the captives were given floating-room in its 
sluggish waters. 

On the 9th November, 1918, Sir Eric Geddes 
gave it as his opinion that the High Sea Fleet 

310 




-4-> " 



w 



The Great Collapse 

had " gone mad " because it " dared not 
fight " and because it " had not got a good 
cause." That is the psychological explana- 
tion, true to fact and experience. Its moral 
broke down, which is another way of saying 
that it lost its nerve. When ordered to put to 
sea on the 28th October, 1918, ostensibly for 
manoeuvres, but in reality as a gambler's last 
hazardous throw of the dice, the German Fleet 
mutinied in a far more thorough manner than 
had obtained a few months previously. 

At Wilhelmshaven about one thousand sailors 
were imprisoned for taking part in the mutiny ; 
Kiel, on the other hand, went wholly ' red,' as 
did also the commercial ports of Hamburg, 
Bremen, and Liibeck. Soviets came into being, 
a Workers' and Soldiers' Council was formed, 
Bolshevism was openly preached, fireworks were 
let off at Wilhelmshaven in honour of the 
German Republic. 

Apart from the moral issue, three main 
causes led to the defection of the German 
Navy. It did not fight because the Battle of 
Jutland had proved the vast superiority of 
the Grand Fleet ; it did not want to fight 
■ 3" 



War in the Under seas 

because the complements of the vessels were 
mainly landsmen by upbringing and inclina- 
tion ; it had no heart to fight because the 
U-boat campaign had failed to win the war 
according to promise, or even to shake Britain's 
resolution by one iota. Probably the ultimate 
and determining factor was the frightful 
mortality among the submersibles. When the 
High Sea Fleet failed at Jutland the U-boat 
campaign was undertaken in real earnest ; 
when that failed the. mutiny took place. The 
death-rate toward the end was frightful. Of 
360 submarines launched during 1914-18, 200 
were sunk or captured. 

That Germany made a bold bid for triumph 
cannot be gainsaid. There were times when 
the Allied Admiralties regarded the situation 
as critical. The statistics of the matter are 
instructive, though not pleasing. From first to 
last Great Britain lost 9,000,000 tons of ship- 
ping, while Allies and neutrals suffered to the 
extent of a further 6,000,000 tons. In addition 
there were eighty British vessels, with an 
aggregate tonnage of 172,554, held up in 
German ports during hostilities, an amount by 

312 



The Great Collapse 

no means to be despised, although it is small 
compared with the enemy tonnage captured 
and brought into Allied service. The latter 
reached the respectable figure of 2,392,675. 
British naval casualties totalled 39,766 in 
killed, wounded, interned, and captured. In 
the Merchant Service 14,661 lost their lives, 
and 3,295 were taken prisoners. War in the 
Underseas was waged at frightful cost to all 
belligerents, both vanquished and victors. 
Taking British losses by enemy action and 
marine risks during the war, the worst quarters 
were in this order : second quarter of 1917, 
third, first, and last quarters of the same year, 
and first quarter of 191 8 and last quarter of 
1916. In April 1917, 555,000 tons of British 
shipping were sent to the bottom. Had things 
gone on at that rate, " we were in deadly 
danger ; had it gone on for nine months we 
were ruined." x In September 1918 the de- 
pletion had been reduced to 151,000 tons. 

Captain Persius asserts that, following the 
action off the Danish coast, twenty-three battle- 

1 Sir L. Chiozza Money in the House of Commons, 14th 
November, 1918. 

313 



War in the Under seas 

ships were disarmed for the purpose of obtain- 
ing metal for constructing U-boats — excellent 
proof of the grip of the blockade and of the 
British victory at Jutland. His figures regarding 
underseas craft are a little difficult to follow, 
because he only deals with what he calls ' front 
submarines,' presumably those definitely on 
active service and not merely patrolling in 
home waters. In April 1917, he says, Ger- 
many had 126 U-boats, in the following October 
146 ; in February 1918 she possessed 136 ; in 
June of the same year, 113. In January 1917 
only 12 per cent, were at sea, 30 per cent, in 
harbour, 38 per cent, under repair, and 20 per 
cent, incapacitated. His most important ad- 
mission is that the ill-trained crews had no 
confidence in their craft, and that toward the 
end of the campaign it was difficult to get men to 
work them. He flatly contradicts the assertion 
that losses were made up by new construction. 
Apart from the offensive operations of the 
Navy proper, the defensive equipment of 
traders and the introduction of the convoy 
system in the summer of 19 17 were of enor- 
mous importance in thwarting the submarine. 

314 



The Great Collapse 

In addition to merchant shipping and munitions 
16,000,000 fighting men were escorted, and of 
these less than 5000 met with disaster. 

Sea-power worked miracles in other direc- 
tions. " The blockade," says Sir Eric Geddes, 1 
" is what crushed the life out of the Central 
Empires." That was the work of the 10th 
Cruiser Squadron. From 1914 to 19 17 the 
ships of that squadron " held the 800 miles 
stretch of grey sea from the Orkneys to Iceland. 
In those waters they intercepted 15,000 ships 
taking succour to our enemies, and they did 
that under almost Arctic conditions, and mainly 
in the teeth of storm and blizzard ; out of 
that 15,000 they missed just 4 per cent., a 
most remarkable achievement under impos- 
sible conditions. Behind the blockade was 
the Grand Fleet, the fulcrum of the whole 
of the sea-power of the Allies. If ever testi- 
mony were needed of the value of sea-power, 
I can give it. In every individual case when 
an armistice was signed by our enemies, and 
in one, if not two, cases before, the one cry 
that went up was, ' Release the blockade.' " 

1 Speech at the Grosvenor Galleries, 4th December, 19 18. 
315 



War in the Under seas 

Admiral Sir Percy Scott holds that four 
years of U-boat warfare have " tragically 
demonstrated the truth " of his neglected 
warning, but he also acknowledges that the 
Navy did not fail us. " From the first," to 
quote the apostle of the submarines, " Great 
Britain kept command of the seas." His 
prophecy of 1914 that the day of the big 
surface ship was over has not been fulfilled, 
though the submarine may become the capital 
ship of the future. He contends that if Ger- 
many could have placed 200 U-boats on the 
ocean trade routes at the outbreak of war she 
would have defeated the Allies. She might 
have done so, but the important fact is that 
she did not possess the requisite number. At 
that time we were lamentably short of light 
craft, German cruisers and raiders were running 
amok in various parts of the world, and the 
Grand Fleet was fully occupied ' containing ' 
the main German squadrons. Given the hypo- 
thetical conditions mentioned by the Admiral, 
it is not improbable that the enemy would 
" have defeated the Allies and practically 
conquered the world," but it is not " certain," 

316 



The Great Collapse 

as Sir Percy asserts. Germany regarded the 
intensified U-boat campaign as a sure thing ; 
we know the result. In his now famous letter 
to the Times, one of the eminent correspondent's 
contentions was that " the introduction of 
vessels that swim under water has already 
done away with the utility of ships that swim 
on the top of the water," that " as the motor 
vehicle has driven the horse from the road, so 
has the submarine driven the battleship from 
the sea." The Great War of 1914-18 disproved 
this very definite statement, and witnessed the 
introduction of mighty ' hush ' ships which 
lived and moved and had their being on the 
surface of great waters. 

On the other hand we should be crass fools 
if we neglected the lessons of the war as regards 
the latest naval arm. The records of British 
submarines are eloquent of their effectiveness. 
Summed up they amount to this : Two battle- 
ships sunk and three badly damaged ; two 
armoured cruisers destroyed ; two light cruisers 
sunk and one badly damaged. The long obitu- 
ary list also included seven torpedo-boats, 
five gunboats, twenty submarines, five armed 

317 



War in the Underseas 

auxiliaries, fourteen transports, two store ships, 
half a dozen ammunition and supply ships, 
fifty-three steamships, 197 sailing vessels, and 
one Zeppelin, making a grand total of 315 
vessels dead and buried. As to the sea-going 
qualities of the craft, one British commander 
made twenty-four cruises, covering 22,000 miles, 
in a year, while in a single month British sub- 
marines navigated 105,768 sea miles, one mile 
in every ten being in the submerged position. 
We have seen in previous chapters that the 
Allied naval losses, while they made no appreci- 
able difference to the situation, were not negli- 
gible. Approximately 230 fighting ships were lost 
from all causes by Great Britain during the war. 
Without going so far as Mr Arthur Pollen, 
whose opinion regarding the submarine is that, 
" viewed strictly as a form of sea force, it is the 
feeblest and least effective that has ever been 
seen," all available facts show that warships 
travelling at a good speed are comparatively 
immune from attack. There is also little 
danger when they are going slowly, provided 
they have a covering screen of destroyers. 
The majority of battleships and cruisers that 

318 



The Great Collapse 

fell victims to U-boats were taking life easy, 
as for instance the Aboukir, the Cressy, and the 
Rogue in the North Sea, and the Formidable in 
the Channel. 

The Great Collapse revealed no new wonders, 
though the cargo-carrying Deutschland, con- 
verted into a ' front submarine ' and mounting 
5.9-in. guns, was a sight for the gods as she 
lay floating on the bosom of old Father Thames. 
Another former commercial cruiser, U 139, had 
just returned to the Fatherland after a voyage 
of sixty-four days with a company of ninety- 
one, fifteen of whom were specially detailed for 
manning prizes. One ugly brute, believed to 
have been responsible for the sinking of 47,000 
tons of shipping, carried forty -two mines 
and twenty-two torpedoes. Perhaps the most 
interesting discovery was a cat-o'-nine-tails 
stained with blood, extracted from under the 
bunk of a certain U-boat commander. Two 
sailors were so enamoured of their own country 
that they had to be persuaded to go on board 
the transport at the point of a revolver. One 
commander, in handing over his signed declara- 
tion, was good enough to remark, " We shall 

319 



War in the Under seas 
be coming over again for them soon." Another 
officer explained that his periscope was miss- 
ing and his compass gave an incorrect reading 
because a steamer had ' sat ' on his boat, 
while a British Lieutenant-Commander had the 
satisfaction of piloting a submarine he had 
once attacked in German waters. Another 
boat was brand-new from the shipbuilding 
yard. Nearly all were camouflaged. The 
majority of the submarines surrendered were 
certainly not of the cruiser type, about which 
one heard so much during the war, although in 
the first batch to reach Harwich was a monster 
340 ft. long, with a displacement of 2300 tons 
and accommodation for a crew of seventy. 
The remainder were mostly of 800 tons dis- 
placement, 225 ft. long, and 22 ft. beam. 

It has taken ten centuries to make the 
British Navy ; it took four and a quarter years 
for the Senior Service to secure the surrender 
of its most formidable rival in the greatest Sea 
Conquest of all time. 



